Security guard among 2 men accused of selling illegal guns in Queens and the Bronx
QUEENS (WABC) -- Two men, including a security guard, were arrested in connection to the illegal sale of firearms in New York City.
Prosecutors say the pair are tied to the illegal sale of dozens of firearms across Queens and the Bronx.
The security guard for Queens College was caught on camera selling a gun on campus to an undercover cop, officials say.
Prosecutors say 29-year-old Ncodjigui Sanogo of Harlem was in his security uniform and on duty outside of Kissena Hall on Kissena Boulevard near 65th Avenue last June while holding a bag with a gun inside when he sold it to the undercover officer.
"It's so important for us to focus on getting guns off the street before the summertime because guns spike, shootings spike and people are hanging out on the streets," said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Katz says Sanogo and another man, 25-year-old Mohamadou Sylla, also from Harlem, were arraigned on a 131-count indictment after they were arrested Tuesday.
They are accused of selling 38 guns 16 different times, all to undercover NYPD officers, over the past 10 months.
Most of the alleged crimes happened at Forest Park in Woodhaven, a parking lot in College Point, in the Melrose section of the Bronx and the most brazen was on the CUNY campus of Queens College, authorities say.
"Those are 38 guns that will never kill anyone, will never shoot anybody and will never be part of any crime in the borough of Queens County and the City of New York," Katz said.
The takedown was a collaboration through the NYPD and prosecutors with the Queens district attorney's office who are part of an investigative unit that Katz launched seven years ago called the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau.
The DA does not believe the suspects are part of a gang and instead acted alone as opportunists in illegal gun sales.
Sanago and Sylla have been charged with conspiracy, criminal sale of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon. Both were held without bale.
Sanago was not employed by the school but contracted out, officials say. The school released the following statement:
"Queens College is cooperating fully with the office of the Queens District Attorney in its investigation of Ncodjigui Sanoggo, who worked occasional shifts at Queens College through the College's security contract with Wisdom Protective Services. Queens College has advised Wisdom that Sanoggo is no longer permitted to work at the College. The college reserves further comment on ongoing law enforcement inquiries."
The two men are due back in court on June 9. If convicted, they could face up to 25 years in prison.
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