Schneiderman: “Weapons Of War Have No Place On The Streets Of America: in New York, We’re Doing Something About It”
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and New York State Police Superintendent George Beach announced today that their offices had charged three men with multiple weapons counts stemming from a two-year-long investigation into the illegal sales of assault weapons in Western New York.
The charges stem from illegal sales of more than one hundred assault rifles at Jackson Guns and Ammo in the Rochester suburb of Henrietta, New York. Jackson Guns and Ammo, then a federally licensed firearm dealer, was owned and operated by Kordell Jackson, 40, of West Henrietta, and employed Ken Youngren, 30, of Alfred, and Joshua Perkins, 28, of Irondequoit.
Each of the men face multiple felony charges including Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the first degree, a class B felony. Jackson and Perkins are in police custody, while Youngren is expected to surrender to authorities today.
Each of the assault weapons violates provisions of the New York Penal Law that were amended after passage of the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act Jan. 15, 2013.
“New York has enacted some of the toughest, most sensible gun safety laws in the country, and with today’s charges, we are sending a message that these laws will be vigorously enforced,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “The tragedies in Orlando, Newtown, Aurora, and too many other communities across the country are clear signs that we need to get our national gun violence epidemic under control. Weapons of war have no place on the streets of America and, in New York, we’re doing something about it.”
State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said: “Through hard work and collaboration with our partners at the Attorney General’s Office, this two-year-long investigation has resulted in charges against three men for selling dozens of illegal firearms. I want to congratulate the State Police members who worked on this case for their diligence and attention to detail, which helped bring this case to a close.”
The investigation leading to today’s charges began in 2014 after the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives observed irregularities in Jackson Guns and Ammo’s records and notified the New York State Police of possible violations of New York law. Over the course of the next two years, officers of the New York State Police contacted the individuals who had purchased the assault rifles allegedly sold illegally by Jackson and his employees. To date, law enforcement has recovered the vast majority of the assault rifles that were sold illegally at the store.
On June 15, members of the New York State Police went to Perkins’ residence on an unrelated matter and allegedly observed three illegal high-capacity ammunition feeding devices in plain view. The officers then obtained a search warrant for Perkins’ residence and allegedly discovered dozens more illegal high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, four assault rifles, dozens of cartons of untaxed cigarettes, numerous strips of the narcotic Suboxone packaged for resale and approximately $25,000 in cash.
Following these observations, charges were filed.
The charges are as follows:
Kordell Jackson, 40 (DOB 12/30/1975), of West Henrietta, was charged with three counts of Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the first degree, a class B felony, in violation Section 265.13(2) of the Penal Law; Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the second degree, a class C felony, in violation of Section 265.12(2) of the Penal Law; and two counts of Manufacture, transport, disposition and defacement of weapons and dangerous instruments and appliances, a class D felony, in violation of Section 265.10(3) of the Penal Law. His business, Jackson Guns and Ammo, went out of business in January 2015.
Ken Youngren, 30 (12/10/1985), of Alfred, was charged with Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the first degree, a class B felony, in violation Section 265.13(2) of the Penal Law, and Manufacture, transport, disposition and defacement of weapons and dangerous instruments and appliances, a class D felony, in violation of Section 265.10(3) of the Penal Law.
Joshua Perkins, 28 (08/13/1987), of Irondequoit, was charged with Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the first degree, a class B felony, in violation of Section 265.13(2) of the Penal Law, and Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the second degree, a class C felony, in violation of Section 265.12(2) of the Penal Law. Prosecutors expect to level additional charges against Perkins.
The investigation was conducted by the New York State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement Team, under the supervision of Major David Krause, with the assistance of OCTF Investigator Christopher Reidy, Supervising Investigator Thomas M. Wolf and Deputy Chief Eugene Black. The Investigations Bureau is led by Chief Investigator Dominick Zarrella.
The Attorney General would like to thank the U.S. Marshall’s Service for its assistance with the arrests. The case is being prosecuted by OCTF Assistant Deputy Attorney General and Senior Investigative Counsel James J. Mindell. Deputy Attorney General Peri Alyse Kadanoff runs the Organized Crime Task Force. The Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Prosecutions is Kelly Donovan.
The charges against the defendants are accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.