Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Wednesday, Nov. 16, that a 23-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for trafficking 73 weapons and high-capacity magazines to The Bronx and Manhattan, where they were sold to an undercover NYPD officer.

 

Clark said of the case, “The defendant, who was a college student at the time in Tennessee, trafficked semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines from the south to New York City. He brought some of the weapons in duffle bags by bus and then sold them to an undercover NYPD officer. The illegal influx of guns threatens the safety of Bronxites. I thank our partners at the NYPD for intercepting these guns before they ended up on our streets.”

 

Norwood News reported on the case at the time of Rodriguez’s arrest in January of this year.

 

Clark said the defendant, Shakor Rodriguez, 23, who had been attending Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, was sentenced on Wednesday by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo to 10 years in prison and 5 years of post-release supervision for first-degree criminal sale of a firearm. He also received a one to 3-year, indeterminate sentence for fourth-degree conspiracy, to run concurrently with the 10-year sentence for criminal sale of a firearm. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charges on Sept. 19.

 

According to the investigation by the NYPD Firearms Investigations Unit and the Bronx District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, dubbed “Operation Overnight Express,” Rodriguez, also known as “Sha,” trafficked 73 firearms to The Bronx and Manhattan and sold them to an undercover NYPD officer between July 17, 2020 and December 22, 2021. Of the 73 weapons sold were 59 loaded firearms. He also sold 40 high-capacity magazines, including multiple “drum” magazines. The officer typically paid between $1,000 and $1,500 per gun.

 

Rodriguez sold most of the weapons near his former home in the vicinity of Weeks Avenue and Nelson Avenue in the Mt. Hope section of The Bronx, and multiple sales occurred on Allen Street in Manhattan. The investigation found he transported guns in duffle bags and in some instances traveled with them by bus.

 

The case was prosecuted by assistant district attorneys, Shavonn Bennette and Elliott Hamilton, both of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, under the supervision of Keturah Ladd and Edward Christian Uy, supervisors in the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, Jonathan Abramovitz, supervisor in the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, Ronald Sannicandro and Ilya Kharkover, deputy chiefs of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, and L. Newton Mendys, chief of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the Investigations Division.

 

Clark thanked the NYPD’s Firearms Investigations Unit for their work on the investigation, specifically, Detective Gustavo Medina, Sergeant Brian O’Hanlon, Lieutenant Michael Raso, Captain Jeffrey Heilig, and Inspector Brian Gill.

 

Norwood News previously contacted Austin Peay State University officials for comment on Rodriguez’s arrest. They declined to comment at the time. We have contacted them once again and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback we receive.