Press Release

District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a Queens resident has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of criminal sale of firearms. The defendant sold multiple firearms – ranging from pistols to assault rifles and ammunition – to buyers who unbeknown to the defendant were undercover New York City Police Department detectives. The gun buys were conducted between December 2017, through March 2019. The co-defendant in this case also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

District Attorney Katz said, “Far too many people are senselessly killed by guns. This defendant is going to prison for selling illegal weapons in our neighborhoods. Those who deal guns in Queens County will be prosecuted.”

The Queens District Attorney’s Office identified the defendant as Gerren Devlin, 34, of Jamaica, Queens. The defendant pleaded guilty on October 9, 2019, to first-degree criminal sale of firearms before Queens Criminal Court Judge Bruna DiBiase. Judge DiBiase yesterday imposed a determinate sentence of 12 years in prison to be followed by 5 years post release supervision. Co-defendant Kiearra Reynolds, 30, also of Jamaica, Queens, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty on November 20, 2019, to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before Queens Criminal Court Judge Eugene Guarino.

According to the charges, both Devlin and Reynolds were gun traffickers operating in Queens County. Unbeknown to the traffickers, the buyers were detectives. Over the course of the long-term investigation, Devlin sold undercover detectives 26 pistols, 2 revolvers, 2 assault rifles, a shotgun, an inoperable blank pistol and more than 400 rounds of ammunition. The purchasing price for this arsenal – $26,000.

The District Attorney said, as outlined in the charges, between December 2017 and March 2019, Devlin on 9 separate occasions sold numerous firearms to a “buyer” in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash. On December 8, 2017, the undercover detective met with Devlin on Ferndale Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The defendant sold a pistol, a magazine for that pistol and ammunition for $600.
Continuing, according to the charges, on September 6, 2018, defendant Reynolds sold 3 pistols and accompanying ammunition to a “buyer” for $2,800.
Assistant District Attorney Michael R. Whitney, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau along with Assistant District Attorney Kevin B. Ramnarain, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Shawn Clark, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.