A Cohoes man pleaded guilty Friday to selling an assault rifle and a loaded handgun to undercover New York State troopers, admitting to a felony weapons deal that unraveled after a six-month investigation into illegal gun sales in the Capital Region. Bazeil Phoenix, identified in news reports as 32, entered the plea to felony third-degree criminal sale of a firearm.
According to The Daily Gazette, Phoenix was identified after a six-month state police investigation into illegal firearm possession and sales across the region. State Police material has listed Phoenix's age as 31, while multiple news outlets, including CBS6 Albany, have reported him as 32 — a discrepancy that remains unresolved in the available records.
A $4,000 Deal With Undercover Troopers
The sale itself took place on Dec. 14, 2025, when Phoenix sold undercover officers with the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit an ATI Omni Hybrid assault rifle and a loaded Glock 10mm handgun in Albany for $4,000, per WNYT. The transaction capped a probe that drew on multiple layers of law enforcement. The investigation was conducted by the state police Special Investigations Unit, state police Troop G, and the Albany and Troy police departments, the same Daily Gazette report noted.
WNYT and The Daily Gazette reported on Phoenix’s guilty plea. The linked WRGB/CBS6 article reported his arraignment and not-guilty plea. Albany County District Attorney Lee C. Kindlon announced the guilty plea, with Assistant District Attorney and Street Crimes Bureau chief Bryanne Brucato prosecuting the case.
Cannabis Found During January Arrest
Phoenix was arrested roughly a month later, on Jan. 15, 2026, at his apartment on Delaware Avenue in Cohoes, the Daily Gazette reported. During that arrest, troopers allegedly found more than 16 pounds of cannabis in his apartment. That January arrest, according to Daily Voice, was part of the broader, lengthy state police investigation into illegal gun sales across the region.
At the time of that arrest, state troopers listed a lengthy set of charges against Phoenix, including second-degree criminal sale of a firearm, first-degree criminal possession of marijuana, three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to the New York State Police. Friday's guilty plea to third-degree criminal sale of a firearm satisfied all charges against Phoenix, the Daily Gazette reported.
What Comes Next
Under New York law, a person is guilty of criminal sale of a firearm when they are not legally authorized to possess one and unlawfully sell, exchange, give or dispose of a firearm or large-capacity ammunition-feeding device to another person, according to New York State Senate statute. Phoenix now faces five years in state prison followed by three years of post-release supervision, per the Daily Gazette's report. Judge William Little is scheduled to sentence him on Jan. 6, 2027.
The case arrives amid wider state and federal attention on illegal firearms trafficking. In March, a separate investigation led by the New York Attorney General's Organized Crime Task Force found that another individual made at least nine illegal firearms sales between May and October 2025, according to the New York Attorney General's Office. In the Capital Region specifically, an Albany man was sentenced to 10 years in prison this past July for trying to traffic firearms, according to News10. Whatever sentence Phoenix ultimately receives will not be known until the January hearing.
