Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Grzegorz Blachowicz was charged with criminal possession of weapons after search warrants executed at his home and a storage unit uncovered an arsenal of firearms and ammunition.

District Attorney Katz said: “Ghost gun trafficking is a developing cottage industry that threatens to make an already pervasive gun violence problem even worse.  That is why this case is so important and why my office is a leader in the fight against ghost guns.”

Blachowicz, 36, of 64^th Lane in Glendale, was arraigned on a 131-count complaint charging him with attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, 26 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, 11 counts of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, 18 counts of attempted criminal possession of a firearm, 65 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, criminal possession of a rapid-fire modification device, two counts of unlawful purchase of body armor and two counts of unlawful possession of pistol ammunition. Judge Earle-Gargan ordered the defendant to return to Court on March 6. If convicted, Blachowicz faces up to 15 years in prison.

According to the charges, members of the Queens District Attorney’s office were conducting a long-term investigation into the purchase of polymer-based, unserialized firearm components by the defendant. These components are easily assembled into operable firearms without serial numbers—commonly referred to as “ghost guns”—that enable users to skirt background checks.

On Wednesday, officers from the New York Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit and Major Case Field Intelligence Team, and the Queens District Attorney’s Detective Bureau obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant of the defendants’ multi-family residence, located at 7420 64^th Lane, Glendale, and recovered:

• One fully assembled Polymer 80 semiautomatic assault pistol ghost gun with the ability to accept a detachable magazine and a threaded barrel;
• One Glock model rapid fire modification device (“Glock switch” or “auto sear”);
• One 1911 model full ghost gun build kit;
• Two baretta model ghost gun build kits;
• One large-capacity ammunition feeding device capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition;
• Fifteen additional magazines;
• Four blank model Mac-11 and Mac-10 ghost gun frames;
• Two bullet-resistant vests;
• One taser;
• Ammunition of various calibers;
• Various manuals for firearms including an M16A1 rifle, AK-47, browning hi-power pistol, SKS rifle and others;
• One handheld dremel drill was recovered, along with other tools and materials used to manufacture and/or assemble ghost guns;
• Government-issued identification, a passport identification card, and a social security card, all bearing the name Grzegorz Blachowicz.

Additionally, a court-authorized search warrant was later obtained and executed at the storage facility owned by the defendant at 7134 70^th Street, Glendale, where law enforcement recovered the following:

• Nine complete ghost gun assault weapon build kits, with the ability to accept a detachable magazine and a threaded barrel, for the following assault rifle models: AR-9, AR-10, AR-15, and AR-30;
• One complete ghost gun semiautomatic 9mm assault pistol build kit, with the ability to accept a detachable magazine and a threaded barrel;
• One complete Sig Sauer 9mm pistol build kit;
• Five complete Polymer 80 semiautomatic ghost gun pistol build kits, for the following models and calibers: .45caliber, 9mm Glock 17, 9mm Glock-26, 9mm Glock-43, and .22LR-caliber;
• Two complete model AK-47 assault rifle ghost gun build kits;
• Twenty-five “solvent traps,” that can be readily made into firearm suppressors or silencers;
• Twelve unfinished lower receivers;
• One model 1911 lower receivers;
• Twenty-four assault rifle lower receivers;
• Over 207 large capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition;
• Thousands of rounds of various ammunition, in the following calibers: .45 caliber, 9mm, 5.56 caliber, .22LR-caliber, 7.62 caliber, 300 blackout, 308 winmag, 12-gauge buck, and 25 caliber,
• One ghost gunner, which is a CNC milling machine that gives the owner the ability to take unfinished lower receivers and convert them into components that can be further completed to build fully functioning firearms.

Based on the items recovered above, the defendant is alleged to have possessed one operable assault weapon, along with all of the components necessary to build up to an additional 19 completed ghost guns, including numerous assault-rifle-style weapons and semiautomatic pistols.  These items were all allegedly possessed along with foundational components necessary to build additional firearms, dozens of silencers, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and large capacity magazines that can hold over ten rounds of ammunition.  Additionally, the Glock model rapid fire modification device that was recovered allows an individual to convert a semiautomatic pistol into a fully automatic machine gun.

A check conducted by the License and Permit Systems database revealed that Blachowicz does not possess or hold a license to possess or own firearms in New York City.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Queens District Attorney’s Detective Bureau assigned to the Crime Strategies and Intelligence Unit, under the supervision of Sergeant Joseph Oliver and Lieutenant Janet Helgeson, and under the overall supervision of Chief of Detectives Thomas Conforti, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Lisa Cubair, Supervising Intelligence Analyst Jennifer Rudy, and Intelligence Analysts Erik Hansen and Robert Sajeva, of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies and Intelligence Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Shanon LaCorte, Unit Director.

Also taking part in the investigation were members of the NYPD Major Case Field Intelligence’s Detectives Mike Billotto, Victor Cardona, John Schultz, Christopher Thomas, John Uske and Sergeant Christopher Schmitt, under the supervision of Sergeants Bogdan Tabor and Captain Christian Jara, and under the overall supervision of Inspector Courtney Nilan.

The District Attorney would also like to thank members of the Department Homeland Security Investigations, Port Authority Police, New York State Police, and Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their assistance with this investigation.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Powers, of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Sennett, Bureau Chief, Michelle Goldstein, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, Philip Anderson and Barry Frankenstein, Deputy Chiefs under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Investigations Gerard Brave.