Three men were charged in a 43-count indictment tied to an alleged scheme to run guns from Virginia into the Bronx and try to sell them to an undercover police officer, while the third suspect has not been apprehended. Jose Tejeda Jr. and Nazaya Gonzalez were arraigned last Friday, September 4, on charges tied to a conspiracy that prosecutors say ran from December 2023 through May 2024.
According to News 12 Bronx, Tejeda purchased firearms in Virginia and intended to resell them in New York, while Gonzalez also bought guns in Virginia with the same intent to resell them locally. The two were arrested after allegedly trying to complete a sale to an undercover officer, the outlet reports.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark said the defendants allegedly brought illegal guns into the borough for financial gain and often used social media to discuss payment, per the same account. Clark also praised the work of the investigator who intercepted the alleged flow of illegal firearms before the weapons could reach Bronx streets.
Charges and What Comes Next
Gonzalez is charged with criminal sale of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon and other offenses, the report notes. The third suspect named in the scheme has not yet been apprehended, authorities say. Tejeda and Gonzalez are due back in court on December 9.
The cited NYS Open Legislation page does not establish the specific New York classification or maximum sentence for the alleged conduct. It remains unclear whether federal prosecutors will pursue concurrent straw-purchasing charges in this case.
Part of a Familiar Interstate Pipeline
The Bronx case fits a pattern investigators have flagged for years. Roughly 90% of firearms recovered in New York City crimes originate outside the state, often traveling up Interstate 95 from states with looser gun laws like Virginia through a route known as the Iron Pipeline, according to 1010 WINS. Federal law under the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act now allows straw purchasing convictions to carry up to 15 years, rising to 25 years if the weapon is meant for a felony or drug trafficking scheme, as detailed by Vital City. ATF investigation records from 2017 to 2021 found that straw purchasing schemes accounted for roughly 40% of all federal firearm trafficking cases nationwide, the outlet reports.
This is not the first time the Bronx DA's office has broken up a similar network. In May, the office indicted four men after they allegedly sold nine firearms, including an assault rifle, to an undercover NYPD officer in the Concourse section of the Bronx, in an investigation led by the NYPD Narcotics Borough Bronx Major Case Unit, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office. A comparable operation dismantled by the Manhattan DA's office in June involved four men accused of moving dozens of Georgia firearms into the city while marketing them through text messages and video calls, with sales reportedly made in Chinatown and Brooklyn.
Citywide Enforcement Push
The indictment lands amid a broader NYPD crackdown on illegal firearms. As of August, the department had seized more than 3,200 illegal guns citywide since the start of the year, with the Bronx and Brooklyn together accounting for more than half of those recoveries, according to CBS News. NYPD officials also reported that the city saw its lowest recorded numbers of murders, shooting incidents, and shooting victims during the first seven months of the year, crediting multi-agency task forces like the Gun Violence Strategies Partnership for targeting repeat offenders and illegal supply lines.
The Bronx has been the site of several major gun and gang prosecutions this year. In August, the available information does not establish the reported Dub City prosecution, sentence, or crew activity. It also does not establish that firearms were showcased in social-media promotional videos connected to the alleged Bronx gang stash house. Federal authorities in February 2025 moved to seize a Bronx residence on Decatur Avenue that was allegedly used as a gang stash house near an elementary school.
