Three men accused of trafficking guns from Atlanta into Brooklyn are being charged with aggravated enterprise corruption -- the first time the charge has been filed in New York State, authorities said Wednesday.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Four suspects had been arrested on charges accusing them of conspiring to sell 153 guns, nearly all of which were purchased in Georgia, on the streets of Brooklyn.
One suspect, a former Delta Air Lines employee, allegedly brought backpacks of guns and ammo aboard commercial flights nearly 20 times. A Delta ramp agent was charged with helping the smuggling operation.
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson filed a 657-count superseding indictment against five men. The indictment upgrades the charges against three suspects.
The aggravated enterprise corruption charge was lodged against Mark Henry, 46, and Ernest Leneau 55, both of Canarsie, Brooklyn, and Eugene Harvey, 32, College Park, Georgia.
The aggravated enterprise corruption statute went into effect in 2013 and hasn't been used by law enforcement in the state until now, Thompson said.
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Harvey was arraigned Monday in Brooklyn Supreme Court and ordered held without bail. Leneau was arraigned Wednesday and ordered held without bail. Henry is in custody and awaiting arraignment.
Henry, whose mother is a retired Delta employee, used her benefit of unlimited flights for life to shuttle between New York and Georgia, the indictment notes. Henry gave guns to Harvey, a ramp agent, who used his security access to smuggle the firearms aboard flights, according to the charges.
The firearms ranged from AK-47 assault weapons to 9 mm handguns, investigators said.
The indictment also charges Adrian Alleyne, 25, and Grayling Smith, 52, both of Brooklyn, with participating in the criminal enterprise. They are accused of dealing in firearms that were subsequently sold to undercover detectives.
Smith was being held on $700,000 bond and Alleyne is in custody, awaiting arraignment.
The firearms trafficking occurred between May and December of 2014, the indictment states.
