Press Release

QUEENS VILLAGE MAN CHARGED WITH WEAPON POSSESSION AFTER GHOST GUN CACHE FOUND AT HIS HOME

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jonathan Diaz was charged with weapon possession and other crimes after an investigation led to the discovery of four ghost guns and ammunition at his Queens Village home. The guns were allegedly made on a 3D printer at the defendant’s residence.

District Attorney Katz said: “This defendant, according to the complaint, amassed a collection of ghost guns and parts in his Queens home. Working with our partners at the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force, New York State Police, Homeland Security Investigations New York, Port Authority Police Department and Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, we are committed to finding and removing illegal homemade weapons from our communities.  We will continue to investigate the assembly and sale of these untraceable firearms to get an upper hand in our fight against gun violence.”

Jonathan Diaz, 37, of Hillside Avenue in Queens Village, was arraigned yesterday on four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, four counts of criminal possession of a firearm, 12 counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and firearms; unlawful possession of pistol or revolver ammunition.

Queens Criminal Court Judge Michael Gaffey ordered Diaz to return to court on January 21. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

According to the charges, the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations New York, New York State Police and the Queens District Attorney’s Office Detective Bureau conducted a long-term investigation into the purchase of unserialized firearm components by the defendant. Such components can be made into “ghost guns.”

On Wednesday, a court-authorized search warrant was executed at Diaz’s home and the following items were recovered:

  • One loaded and fully assembled black Glock 19-style semiautomatic ghost gun pistol
  • One loaded and fully assembled green Glock 19-style semiautomatic ghost gun pistol
  • One loaded and fully assembled green Glock 17-style semiautomatic ghost gun pistol
  • One loaded and fully assembled red Glock 43X-style semiautomatic ghost gun pistol
  • Eight unserialized 3D-printed Glock-style lower receivers
  • Nine rounds of 9 mm ammunition
  • One 3D printer.
  • 14 spools of PLA filament, which is used in the 3D printing of ghost guns

Since August 2021, the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies & Intelligence Bureau has conducted investigations that have led to the seizure of 453 firearms including 294 ghost guns, as well as 1,190 high-capacity magazines, 338 additional firearm lower receivers, 13 3D printers and more than 140,500 rounds of ammunition.

In 2024, Queens had the most ghost gun recoveries in New York City for the fourth year in a row.

This investigation was conducted by Sergeant Rashawn Vaughn of the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations New York, New York State Police, Port Authority Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department and the Queens District Attorney’s Office Detective Bureau under the supervision of Sergeant David Moore, Lieutenant Joseph Oliver, Deputy Chief Janet Helgeson, Assistant Chief Daniel O’Brien, and under the overall supervision of the Chief Investigator of the Detective Bureau Robert LaPollo.

Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Modica, of the District Attorney’s Crime Strategies and Intelligence Bureau, is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Intelligence Analyst Bushra Ahmed and Senior Intelligence Analyst Victoria Filipe, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Shanon N. LaCorte, Bureau Chief, under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave.

**Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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