Hayden Espinosa Allegedly Sold Firearms and Gun Parts Through Extremist Channel on Telegram
Read the Indictment and Statement of Facts
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. today announced the indictment of HAYDEN ESPINOSA, 24, for selling illegal firearms and components to an undercover NYPD officer while incarcerated in federal prison. ESPINOSA sold and advertised these items through the Telegram channel “3D Amendment,” of which he was the moderator. ESPINOSA was able to operate the Telegram channel to sell the illegal guns and gun parts using cellphones that were smuggled into prison. ESPINOSA and others promoted racially and ethnically motivated extremist views in the Telegram channel, which attracted individuals who stockpiled firearms and committed violence.
ESPINOSA was released from his federal prison term in Louisiana on June 4 and was immediately arrested by the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office on the New York State Supreme Court indictment. He is expected to be arraigned in New York on June 24. He is charged with four counts of Transport of a Firearm, Machine Gun, Silencer, Disguised Gun and one count of Attempted Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the Third Degree. [1]
This case stemmed from the Ghost Gun Initiative’s long-term investigation, in partnership with the New York Police Department (“NYPD”) Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division’s Racially and Ethnically Motivated Extremism (“REME”) Unit, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”).
“While incarcerated, Hayden Espinosa allegedly sold guns and gun parts by using contraband electronic devices,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Furthermore, we alleged Espinosa operated a Telegram channel that is a hub of ethnically and racially motivated extremist ideology. The combination of extremism and firearms is incredibly dangerous and threatens the safety of so many New Yorkers. A hallmark of our approach to combatting gun violence is partnering with our law enforcement partners, and this case involved cooperation at the local, state and federal level. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to stop the flow of illegal weapons into our city.
“I applaud our investigators for their commitment to cases like this because detecting and preventing tragedies before they occur is exactly why we formed our REME unit, the first of its kind based in a municipal police department,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “Its existence underscores the urgency with which the NYPD and our law enforcement partners view the threat from far-right extremists. We will stop at nothing to keep New Yorkers safe by identifying and dismantling gun trafficking networks that are feeding the hate.”
“Hayden Espinosa is accused of brazenly dealing firearms even while confined within the four walls of a federal penitentiary. He allegedly sold illicit guns and accessories through a clandestine chatgroup known for its affiliation with neo-Nazism and other racially motivated extremism. At a time when gun violence has devastated American families throughout the country, there’s no telling the bloodshed these weapons could have caused if placed in the wrong hands,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan J. Arvelo. “I commend the outstanding investigative work of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, the ATF, and USPIS for their unending commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe.”
“As alleged, Mr. Espinosa brazenly ran a criminal enterprise while incarcerated, foolishly thinking he could covertly use the U.S. Mail to facilitate the illegal sale of guns and gun parts. However, when criminals use the mail for illicit activities, postal inspectors will shine a spotlight on their crimes. Postal inspectors and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate, identify, and arrest those who wantonly endanger our communities through the sale of illegal guns and other contraband. I commend our postal inspectors and our partners in the NYPD, HSI, ATF, and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, for their tireless commitment to taking illegal firearms off the streets of New York City,” said Inspector in Charge of the New York Division, Daniel B. Brubaker.
“This investigation speaks to the power of collaboration across agencies, boundaries and jurisdictions. The agents and officers worked tirelessly to identify and disrupt this illegal trafficking scheme stopping its flow of illegal machineguns and other firearms into our community,” said Special Agent in Charge of ATF NY Bryan Miller.
Pictured: Gun part sold by Espinosa
According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, in approximately May 2022, the NYPD’s REME Unit discovered ESPINOSA was operating the Telegram channel “3D Amendment” with the username “Treason 3DA.” ESPINOSA and other members of the channel would advertise the sale of illegal firearms and gun parts, including silencers, high-capacity magazines, Glock-style handguns and auto sears. An auto sear is a rapid-fire modification device which can transform a semiautomatic firearm into a machine gun. Several participants purchased firearms and parts from ESPINOSA and posted about the purchases in his channel.
Pictured: Group chat with Espinosa and photo of an individual with swastika armband.
In December 2022, ESPINOSA was sentenced to prison at the Federal Correctional Complex Pollock in Louisiana in a separate federal criminal case. While serving his federal sentence, ESPINOSA sold illegal firearms and parts through his channel by using contraband cellphones. On at least three separate dates, ESPINOSA sold and attempted to sell items to an undercover NYPD officer through his channel.
On August 7, 2023, ESPINOSA sold two auto sears, one for a Glock-style handgun and one, which was 3D-printed, for an AR-style rifle to an undercover police officer.
On August 25, 2023, he attempted to sell a Glock-19 handgun to the officer.
On November 13, 2023, he sold two firearms silencers to the officer.
The members of ESPINOSA’s channel were motivated by Neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies and accelerationism, a belief that violence, including through obtaining firearms and weapons, is necessary to achieve a total collapse of the status quo and to create a new extreme-right sociopolitical reality. Accelerationism is a part of racially and ethnically motivated extremism, a movement that supports a combination of racist, antisemitic, xenophobic, misogynistic and homophobic ideology.
In addition to selling illegal firearms and components, ESPINOSA also posted content on Telegram and his YouTube channel, which promoted white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and anti-government extremist ideologies.
The Office has made cracking down on the proliferation of illegal firearms and ghost guns a top priority. Last week YouTube changed their firearm content guidelines in response to a letter from the office calling on the company to stop the proliferation of videos on its platform that show how to make and manufacture ghost guns and 3D-printed guns, many of which are pushed towards young children and adults through its algorithm. The D.A. also proposed legislation to close loopholes in New York’s gun laws by making it a felony to manufacture ghost guns and a misdemeanor to share, sell or distribute files containing blueprints for 3D-printed firearms components.
The D.A.’s Office, in partnership with the NYPD and other law enforcement partners, established the Ghost Guns Initiative in 2020 to crack down on the proliferation of ghost guns in New York City. To date, the Ghost Guns Initiative has prosecuted cases involving the seizure of over 134 ghost gun parts, 92 firearms, 443 high-capacity magazines, 47 silencers, and other gear including scopes and rapid-fire modification devices.
Assistant D.A. Bonnie Seok (overseeing the Ghost Guns Initiative) is handling the prosecution of this case, under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s David Stuart (Chief of the Counterterrorism Unit), Mike Ohm (Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau), Judy Salwen (Principal Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau), and Jodie Kane (Chief of the Rackets Bureau and Acting Chief of the Investigation Division). The following members of the D.A.’s Office also assisted with the investigation: Ryan Rittenberg (Director of Intelligence and Analysis), Juanita Garcia (Counterterrorism Analyst), Catherine Schreck (former Senior Counterterrorism Analyst), Reva Kale (Trial Preparation Assistant) and Steve Moran (Director of the High Technology Analysis Unit).
D.A. Bragg thanked the NYPD, particularly Detective Marwan Kandil, Sergeants Robert Villani, Ronald Sanchez, Paul Scocca, and Barry Driscoll, Lieutenant Steven Sarao, Inspectors Robert Bava and Courtney Nilan, and Intelligence Research Specialists Landon Miller, Emily August, Dan Heesemann, and Alexandra Skoler. He also thanked Special Agent David Burpoe of HSI, U.S. Postal Inspector Jose Mena, and Special Agent Evan Moscou-Lewis of ATF, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Services, and the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office for their assistance.
Defendant Information:
HAYDEN ESPINOSA
Corpus Christi, TX
Charged:
- Transport of a Firearm, Machine Gun, Silencer, Disguised Gun, a class D felony, four counts
- Attempted Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the Third Degree, a class D felony, one count
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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.