A bodega on the unit block near East New York became the scene of a daylight shootout on July 21, and now federal prosecutors have unsealed charges against the two men accused of opening fire inside it. Jonathan Arboleda, 30, and Wilson Martinez, 41, both Brooklyn residents, are charged with being felons in possession of ammunition tied to the exchange, which authorities say put bystanders in the store directly in the line of fire.
According to the Department of Justice, court filings indicate Martinez walked into the East New York bodega around 1:30 p.m. that day and immediately opened fire on Arboleda, touching off an exchange of gunfire inside the store. The criminal complaint, filed under Docket No. 26-MJ-153, was unsealed in Eastern District of New York federal court on Wednesday. “As alleged, these defendants are convicted felons who engaged in a dangerous gunfight in a Brooklyn bodega in broad daylight, endangering the lives of numerous citizens,” said United States Attorney Nocella, according to a post from US Attorney EDNY.
“As alleged, these defendants are convicted felons who engaged in a dangerous gunfight in a Brooklyn bodega in broad daylight, endangering the lives of numerous citizens,” said United States Attorney Nocella.
— US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) August 13, 2026
Custody Split Between State and Federal Systems
The two men are moving through the justice system on very different tracks. Martinez was arrested on Tuesday and made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo, while Arboleda remains in state custody at Rikers Island pending federal arraignment, the DOJ said. The dual jurisdiction means Arboleda still has pending state matters to resolve before he faces the federal ammunition charge tied to the same gunfight.
Both men have multiple prior felony convictions, which federal authorities say enabled the ammunition charges after the two allegedly chose to settle their conflict with gunfire on public streets. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Stamboulidis of the EDNY General Crimes Section has been assigned to lead the prosecution.
Fifteen Years on the Table Under Federal Gun Law
Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), convicted felons are barred from possessing firearms or ammunition, and the offense now carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison following statutory updates made under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, according to the Federal Register. That's up from the previous 10-year cap, giving prosecutors a heavier hammer than they would have had before the law changed.
The case is being brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a joint Department of Justice initiative that pools federal, state and local resources to target repeat violent offenders. It's not the first time EDNY has used this playbook on a Brooklyn street shootout: in August 2025, federal prosecutors filed similar felon-in-possession charges against two men following a broad-daylight shootout in Flatbush shortly after their release from prison.
A Neighborhood That Had Been Trending Safer
The shooting is a jarring data point against an otherwise improving backdrop. East New York saw a 31% drop in shootings during 2025, part of a citywide trend that gave Brooklyn its fewest annual homicides and shootings on record, per the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. Even so, illegal guns remain a persistent problem citywide — the NYPD had seized more than 3,000 illegal firearms across New York City by mid-August 2026 as officers kept up targeted summer enforcement, according to News 12 Brooklyn.
Bodega shootings have cropped up repeatedly across Brooklyn this year, from a January shooting that wounded two men and prompted a $5,000 reward from police, to Wednesday's separate indictment in a Coney Island cookout shooting that wounded eight people and killed a puppy. Whether the East New York case results in additional state charges against Arboleda remains to be seen as his federal arraignment approaches.
