Long Beach man charged in gun trafficking investigation | Herald Community Newspapers

Anne Donnelly, Nassau County District Attorney, announced on Wednesday the indictment of 33-year-old James Jayshaun Edwards. He is accused of selling ten illegal firearms, including so-called “ghost guns,” in front of his Long Beach apartment between April and July of this year.

The alleged weapons included eight handguns and two assault rifles. Edwards also allegedly sold about 20 grams of cocaine to a buyer.

“When Edwards was arrested last week, three more guns were seized during a search of his residence,” Donnelly said. “Charges related to these weapons are pending. These sales took place right outside the defendant’s Birch Court residence. Edwards brazenly packed high-powered weapons in duffel bags and even diaper boxes and sold them in broad daylight.”

Edwards was arraigned on August 22 on several charges, including first- and second-degree criminal sale of a weapon – and 20 counts of third-degree criminal sale – 10 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, six counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, 10 counts of criminal possession of a weapon, second- and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Edwards pleaded not guilty and bail was set at $500,000 cash, $750,000 surety bond and $1.5 million partially secured bond. Edwards is due back in court on September 20. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Ballistics testing conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on firearms allegedly purchased by Edwards found that two of the guns Edwards allegedly sold were linked to multiple shootings in Queens, Roosevelt, Westbury, and Long Beach that occurred from August 2021 to June 2022. Additionally, one of those firearms was linked to three separate shootings in Nassau County that injured four people. The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office is currently prosecuting these cases and filing charges, including multiple counts of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

“That’s a significant number of firearms removed from the streets of the City of Long Beach,” said Long Beach Police Chief Richard DePalma. “In fact, our last firearm homicide occurred just steps from where those firearms were found, so we really want to thank Anne Donnelly, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the ATF, the NYPD and the Nassau County Police Department for helping to make these streets safer.”

The investigation found that some of the weapons were recently purchased in the South and smuggled into Nassau County via the iron pipeline, Donnelly said. Investigations into the suppliers are ongoing. Since January, law enforcement in Nassau County has seized 223 illegal firearms, a 14.5 percent reduction compared to the same period last year.

Prosecution in this case is being led by Section Chief Lee Genser of the Narcotics, Firearms and Gangs Bureau’s Firearms Suppression and Intelligence Unit. This effort is being supervised by Section Chief Nicholas Mauro, with Investigative Division Assistant District Attorney Rick Whelan providing overall supervision. The defendant is being represented by attorney Robert Schalk Esq. The charges are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.