2 Men Charged Separately With Buying, Reselling Guns In Suffolk County

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Two men were charged Thursday with running separate gun trafficking operations on Long Island.

Terry Byrd, 40, of Bladenboro, North Carolina – formerly of Wyandanch – and Frederick Miller, 36, of Lake Grove – were charged after an investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, prosecutors said.

Byrd was accused of buying guns in North Carolina and returning to Suffolk County to resell them, prosecutors said. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spots said a gun bought in the South will sell for six or seven times its purchase price in Suffolk County.

Miller was accused of buying guns and ammunition from sellers he met on forums on firearms-related websites, including the self-described "firearms marketplace" Armslist.com, prosecutors said. While out on bail for allegedly stealing a .44-caliber handgun in Nassau County, prosecutors alleged that Miller used the website to find an out-of-state gun seller, prosecutors said.

The seller allegedly shipped parts of handguns and assault-style rifles to Miller's Lake Grove apartment, which Miller then reassembled the guns and made them operational to sell on the street, prosecutors said.

Miller allegedly sold an undercover detective a flare gun with inserts and ammunition that turned it into a firearm, prosecutors said. On three more meetings with Miller in October, undercover detectives bought three loaded handguns and a stun gun from him, prosecutors said.

Detectives confiscated three more loaded handguns, ammunition, switchblades and brass knuckle sets from Miller's apartment upon executing a search warrant on Thursday, Nov. 5, prosecutors said.

Miller has a prior conviction and cannot legally own a gun at all, prosecutors said.