NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Queens man was charged on Tuesday for criminal possession of weapons and other crimes after a search warrant led to the discovery of multiple ghost guns, including assault weapons among other things, prosecutors said.
Lenold Caesar, 43, was arraigned on a 33-count complaint.
According to the indictment, the Queens District Attorney's office has been keeping track of Caesar's activities including the purchase of polymer-based, unserialized firearm components that can be assembled into untraceable ghost guns.
On Jan. 30, detectives with a search warrant entered Caesar's house in Cambria Heights and found five ghost gun pistols (three with assault weapon features like detachable magazines and threaded barrels), four silencers, a short barrel rifle conversion kit, three devices that can convert semi-automatic pistols to fully automatic machine guns, components for making ghost guns, two drills, other tools, and 12 ammunition-feeding devices, according to court documents.
Caesar's charges include second-degree criminal weapon possession, eight counts of third-degree weapon possession, five counts each of third-degree firearm sale and criminal firearm possession, 11 counts of fourth-degree weapon possession, and three counts of possessing a rapid-fire modification device.
"Illegal firearms cause unspeakable tragedies in our communities,"Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. "I have prioritized taking guns off the street and will continue fighting the growth in ghost gun trafficking, a deeply troubling trend that threatens to make an already pervasive gun violence problem much worse. That is why this case is important and why my office is a leader in the fight against ghost guns."
In the previous year, Queens accounted for 113, or 31%, of the 359 ghost guns found across the city. Katz's initiative to eliminate ghost guns has led to the seizure of 351 firearms, 875 high-capacity magazines, seven 3D printers, and over 113,000 rounds of ammunition since 2021, according to the press release.
Caesar will return to court on Feb. 2. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
