Firearms Trafficking Unit

The Firearms Trafficking Unit was formally created in 1993 to investigate and prosecute illegal firearms dealers in New York City. The Unit targets gun traffickers, including unlicensed street sellers and corrupt licensed dealers, who distribute significant numbers of illegal firearms to violent criminals. The Unit is staffed by Assistant District Attorneys experienced in handling long-term investigations and complex prosecutions.

Working closely with the New York City Police Department and a variety of other local, state, and federal authorities in New York and beyond, the Unit has successfully prosecuted over one hundred firearms traffickers, involving the seizure of hundreds of firearms and preventing the distribution of thousands more guns. Through its investigation and prosecution of those who provide illegal firearms to other criminals, the Unit also has successfully developed significant prosecutions of violent street gangs, narcotics crews, robbery rings, and other criminal enterprises.

Richard Yarmy

Richard Yarmy was a gun dealer, both legally and illegally. Yarmy held a Federal Firearms License and operated "Yarmy Sporting Company," which legally sold firearms out of its offices in Hawthorne, New York, and Boones Mill, Virginia. The illegal enterprise, used to supplement Yarmy?s legitimate income, operated out of his home, first in Scarsdale, NY, then after a move, in Boone's Mill, VA. Yarmy used his legitimate, licensed business as a front for criminal activities, using middlemen to handle the riskier aspects of the enterprise, such as distributing guns and ammunition to drug gangs. Richard Yarmy profited by arming hundreds of criminals, who perpetrated countless acts of violence.

By virtue of his Federal Firearms License, Yarmy was able to purchase unlimited numbers of firearms for resale. Yarmy became one of the highest volume gun dealers in a network of gun shows regularly held along the eastern seaboard. He was able to purchase firearms and ammunition at gun shows, then resell them illegally to unlicensed purchasers. Yarmy regularly made the sales knowing that the weapons were to be resold to street criminals operating in Manhattan.

During a two year investigation by the Firearms Trafficking Unit of the New York County District Attorney's Office--in conjunction with the New York Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms--undercover detectives purchased or seized forty-five firearms and over ten thousand rounds of ammunition from an individual who acted as a middleman between Yarmy and his ultimate illegal customers.

In addition, an undercover detective purchased an assault weapon and a rifle directly from Yarmy in Scarsdale. The forty-seven weapons recovered in the course of the investigation included the types of firearms that are commonly associated with street violence -- nine millimeter and .380 caliber pistols, .357 and .38 caliber revolvers, TEC-9 and MAC-11 pistols, an Uzi, Street Sweeper shotguns, assault rifles, and fully automatic Sten and Thompson submachine guns.

When law enforcement authorities executed simultaneous search warrants at Yarmy's business locations in Hawthorne and Boones Mill, they seized 271 handguns, rifles and shotguns, and business records reflecting the scope of his enterprise. At Yarmy's Boones Mill home, authorities found an estimated 500,000 rounds of ammunition.

Yarmy was indicted for Enterprise Corruption, eight counts relating to the manufacture and transport of firearms, and four counts of Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the Second Degree. In addition, Yarmy was charged with Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree and eleven license violations.

Richard A. Yarmy was convicted at trial. He was sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison.