New York Duo Charged After Selling 30 Firearms, Assault Weapons To Undercover Officers

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man and woman in Brooklyn were indicted Wednesday on charges of allegedly selling 30 firearms, including six assault weapons, to undercover officers over the course of a year-long investigation.

Authorities said 34-year-old Ricardo Rivero and 45-year-old Constance Guity were charged with criminal sale of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

If you wanted to buy an assault rifle or shotgun, the Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said, all you had to do was go to a deli in East New York.

The district attorney said that beginning in January 2015 and continuing through January 2016, undercover police officers allegedly made multiple gun purchases from Rivero, who was allegedly accompanied by Guity on four occasions, usually carrying the firearms in her handbag.

"There is absolutely no reason for there to be any type of assault rifle on the streets of Brooklyn. Imagine the mayhem and havoc that could have been wreaked on our streets," Thompson told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria.

Thompson said the investigation is another example of officers' unrelenting commitment to keep the people of Brooklyn safe by taking illegal guns off the streets.

Guity is being held on $500,000 bail while Rivero is being held on $1 million bail after being arrested on a criminal complaint.

Investigators will now attempt to trace the weapons to see where they originated.