Midtown doorman busted in big gun sale sting
BY DEAN MOSES
In between welcoming guests and receiving
mail, a Midtown doorman allegedly
used his post to traffi c in and sell illegal
fi rearms as part of a gun smuggling ring,
prosecutors and police announced on Oct. 5.
Police said Roberto Carmona, 51, and
three out-of-state suspects were indicted for
the scheme following an NYPD investigation
that led to the seizure of more than 80
fi rearms — including 63 semi-automatic
pistols, 11 revolvers, two assault rifl es, one
sawed-off shotgun and one shotgun, along
with 26 rounds of ammunition.
According to Manhattan District Attorney
Cy Vance Jr. and police offi cials,
Carmona allegedly used his position as a
front to sell numerous weapons where he
worked at West 55th Street as well as from
his home in Morningside Heights. He allegedly
worked with three Tennessee-based
suspects — identifi ed as Harold Floran,
Alan Goode, and Melvyn McDonald —
who allegedly helped sell the 80 guns
and ammunition to an undercover NYPD
detective.
Vance and Police Commissioner Dermot
Shea showed off the seized weaponry to the
media at a conference in One Police Plaza
Tuesday morning. For Shea, the operation
wasn’t just about catching four people
involved in illegal arms deals — it’s about
preventing those weapons from being used
in violent crime, including murder.
“I don’t see guns on this table, I see victims.
I see kids gunned down in the street.
I see mothers standing at funerals,” Shea
said, thanking his team.
For over a year, members of the Firearms
Investigators Unit and the Manhattan District
Attorney’s offi ce have been utilizing
undercover detectives, court-ordered wiretaps,
surveillance and a wide range of fi eld
intelligence, cultivating a host of evidence
that led to an indictment.
Undercover offi cers had 15 transactions
with the traffi ckers from January until
September, where guns were sold from
$500-$3,700 per weapon.
“Roberto Carmona allegedly used his job
as a doorman to operate a highly illegal,
one-man gun show out of the Midtown
building where he worked—storing ammunition
in his locker and selling multiple
deadly weapons outside,” Vance said. “He
is also accused of bringing his work home
with him, selling dozens of guns outside
the Morningside Heights building where
he lives.”
According to Vance, Carmona received
the majority of his gun supply — the weapons
he is accused of selling to undercover
detectives — from Floran. It is alleged that
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea Speaks over an array of firearms as
Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. looks on.
the two other defendants, Alan Goode and
Melvyn McDonald, purchased the guns
from Tennessee-based gun stores.
Carmona then drove to meet with the
sellers in Tennessee, Virginia, and New
Jersey to pick up these weapons.
Additionally, investigators were able
to make a connection to the gun’s Floran
sold to the murder of Darnell Brown in
Activists appalled after George Floyd
statue in Union Square vandalized
BY DEAN MOSES
Two days after the statues of three
prominent Black fi gures were unveiled
on Union Square, some miscreant
marred the golden visage depicting
George Floyd with white paint.
Although the George Floyd bust on
display at Union Square is but one of three
art pieces in the public exhibit SeeInjustice
developed by Confront Art, the portrayal
of Floyd is the only recipient of a brash
daytime vandal on Oct. 3.
Members of Confront Art and Floyd’s
brother Terence rushed to the East Village
greenspace on Sunday after an unknown
defi ler launched a bucket of paint at the
statue on Sunday afternoon, leaving it
defaced by a trail of white.
“I want to understand for real: Why do
people hate my brother? Why do you hate
George Floyd?” Terrence Floyd asked, becoming
emotional after seeing the likeness
of his loved one dripping with paint. Floyd
was at a loss for words and just continued
questioning: “Why do you hate a person
Using ladders, cloth, and paint, a desperate attempt is made to remove the
hate-fueled act.
you don’t even know?”
This is not the fi rst time the very same
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
statue was defaced. While on display in
Flatbush, Brooklyn, it was vandalized for
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
April 2020 on 101st Street and 1st Avenue,
where Sterling Stewart purchased
the Tennessee-based gun to commit the
crime.
Vance says that this group faces a fl urry
of charges — 141 criminal counts in all —
including fourth-degree conspiracy, criminal
sale of fi rearms in the fi rst-, second-,
and third-degrees, as well as others.
the fi rst time on June 25 by what was reported
to be a group of white supremacists.
Lindsay Eshelman, the Confront Art
Co-founder, was enjoying her Sunday afternoon
when she was notifi ed via Twitter that
the statue of George Floyd was vandalized
on Union Square.
It took six months to develop the art
project SeeInjustice, so when she saw the
image of George Floyd, a man who sparked
a worldwide call of Black Lives Matter
protests, she was deeply hurt.
“It was still wet when I got here, so it
was very fresh. It was remarkable that
someone had done it in broad daylight,
which is shocking, but the fact that it was
vandalized is not shocking,”
Eshelman said. Eshelman says that
Union Square is well-surveillance by the
NYPD and is counting on them to identify
those who committed the crime.
“They think it was a quick hit and run.
It was a signifi cant amount of paint, as you
can see. It is going to take us all day to get
it off. They don’t think it was organized
and it was kind of a rogue hit,” Eshelman
added.
With the help of volunteers, the paint
was removed. Yet with only two days on
display, many in Confront Art are asking
how long before it will happen again.
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