AG James announces convictions, sentencing of five ghost gun traffickers in Queens – QNS
Ghost guns, assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a guitar case where guns were hidden were recovered from an Elmhurst garage defendants used to store weapons.
Photo courtesy of AG’s office
Five members of a Queens ghost gun trafficking crew, who became notorious for selling weapons of war in an East Elmhurst playground and a parking lot at the Queens Center mall in Elmhurst, have learned their fate.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Nov. 20 the convictions and sentencing of the five defendants charged with selling dozens of illegal ghost guns, assault weapons, high-capacity magazines,and ammunition at various locations around the borough following a long-term investigation by her Organized Crime Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations (HS) New York, and the NYPD that resulted in a 625-count indictment against the five crew members. The investigation included controlled firearm purchase operations, covert video surveillance, social media monitoring and analysis of financial and telephone records.
“Gun traffickers who specialize in selling illegal and untraceable weapons undermine our commonsense gun safety laws and put all New Yorkers at risk,” James said. “With this investigation, we put a dangerous gun trafficking ring out of business and brought its members to justice. My office will continue to use all the resources at our disposal to take illegal guns off our streets and protect New Yorkers from gun violence.”
The probe was launched in late 2023 and focused on the ringleader, Satveer Saini, 20, of East Elmhurst, and his associates, Mateo Castro-Agudelo, 21, of Long Island City, Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzales, 20, of Richmond Hill, Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, 20, of Astoria, and Milanjit Sidhu, 20, of Greenwood, Indiana.
The investigation revealed that Saini, Fernandez-Gonzalez and Senhaji-Rivas paid more than $27,000 to purchase firearms from Indiana, which has less restrictive gun laws than New York. Fernandez-Gonzalez also bought 3D-printed ghost guns in Nassau County and transported them to Queens for other members of the trafficking ring to sell. Saini, Castro-Agudelo, and Senhaji-Rivas all sold trafficked firearms, high-capacity magazines, and ammo during the course of the probe. Saini sold the firearms in various locations around Queens, including at the Louis C. Moser Playground in East Elmhurst on a weekday afternoon and in the parking lot of the Queens Center Mall.
Castro-Agudelo and Fernandez-Gonzalez used a garage in Elmhurst to store weapons, at one point hiding a dozen firearms — including seven ghost guns — and numerous high-capacity magazines inside a guitar case in the garage. Castro-Agudelo used the guitar case to transport firearms and ammo to his customers. At least one of the firearm sales he made took place outside a smoke shop in Jackson Heights, where he worked. Castro-Agudelo posted photos of these firearms on social media accounts, including on a publicly available X account, displaying many of the guns and significant amounts of cash.
Saini pleaded guilty in July to criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree and other related crimes and was sentenced to nine years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision for his role in the transactions. Castro-Agudelo pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree and other crimes earlier this month and was sentenced to nine and a half years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision. Fernandez-Gonzalez was sentenced on Nov. 20 to five and a half years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision. Senhaji-Rivas was also sentenced on Nov. 20 to five years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision, and Sidhu was sentenced on Nov. 20 to a prison sentence equivalent to time already served, approximately 16 months.
“The convictions and sentencings of these individuals mark a decisive victory in the battle against illegal firearms and the grave threat they pose to public safety,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel. “The defendants’ criminal enterprise, which involved transporting and selling deadly weapons, fueled the cycle of gun violence and jeopardized countless lives. HSI New York remains resolute in our mission to dismantle gun trafficking networks and protect New Yorkers.”
