Inmate accused of selling ghost guns on site linked to Buffalo mass shooter

(AP – EDITED) — A former Louisiana prison inmate has been charged with selling ghost guns while behind bars thanks to a social media operation uncovered following the massacre of 10 Black people by a white supremacist in a Buffalo supermarket, New York City authorities announced Tuesday. .

Hayden Espinosa, 24, is accused of selling illegal firearms and components to an undercover NYPD officer through a Telegram channel he moderated that promoted white supremacist and neo-Nazi views , and which included the supermarket shooter among its visitors, district of Manhattan. Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Using cellphones smuggled into Louisiana’s Pollock Federal Correctional Complex, authorities said Espinosa continued to do business after his 2022 conviction for 3D printing and selling gun components in Texas. He actively advertised the sale of illegal handguns, high-capacity magazines, silencers and devices called automatic triggers used to convert handguns and rifles into automatic weapons, according to court documents. On three occasions in 2023, he allegedly sold or attempted to sell weapons and components to an undercover agent, according to the indictment.

“This defendant, who was serving time for selling unregistered machine gun parts, (was) selling guns and gun parts from the comfort of his cell,” said New York Police Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner. responsible for the fight against terrorism and intelligence, during a press conference.

Espinosa, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was released from prison June 4 and immediately arrested following the New York indictment, Bragg’s office said. It is unclear whether he had a lawyer for this new case. His appearance is scheduled for June 24.

Police discovered Espinosa’s Telegram channel in May 2022 following Payton Gendron’s attack at a Tops supermarket that killed 10 Black shoppers and employees and injured three other people, Weiner said.

“The initial discovery of this Telegram chat was one that Peyton Gendron had frequented, so that was the genesis of the case,” she said.

Gendron pleaded guilty to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He is awaiting trial on related federal charges that could result in the death penalty.

The 7 News I-Team recently learned that Gendron’s lawyers want a federal judge to dismiss the entire federal lawsuit against him.

In a court filing, attorneys say this federal death penalty case is not in the public interest, nor is it necessary to ensure substantial justice. They say this federal case is duplicative, given that Gendron has already been sentenced to life in prison in New York state under hate crime laws.