Security guard at 9/11 memorial charged with trafficking firearms

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February 3, 2018 5:18 AM

A security guard at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and a Florida man face firearms trafficking charges after selling more than 25 guns — including a MAC-10 machine pistol.

The security guard, Maquan Moore, 29, of Manhattan, allegedly conspired with Morris Wilson, 32, of Orlando, Florida, to sell the guns.

Prosecutors say Moore sold several guns to an undercover officer in lower Manhattan, and that Wilson brought some of the weapons to New York from Florida.

Each faces multiple counts related to the movement, transportation and receipt of firearms. If convicted of all counts, Moore would face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison; Wilson would face 15 years.

Lawyers for the two men could not immediately be reached Friday.

The men “are responsible for illegally introducing into Manhattan scores of illegal firearms — including assault-style weapons capable of inflicting mass casualties — and knowingly doing so in the neighborhood of a nearby school,” Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement Friday.

“Their alleged disregard for public safety could have had catastrophic consequences. The danger of selling unlicensed firearms cannot be overstated.”

An undercover law enforcement officer bought 27 firearms from Moore during four sales in December and January in downtown Manhattan, according to court documents.

At one point during that period, Wilson sent an undercover officer a cellphone picture of seven firearms available for purchase, authorities said.

Then, on Thursday, an undercover officer purchased additional firearms from Moore, some of which had been brought to New York from Florida by Wilson, prosectors say. The authorities say they seized an additional 21 firearms when they arrested the men.

“Their actions,” James P. O’Neill, the New York police commissioner, said of the men, “could have jeopardized the lives of an untold number of citizens as we have seen far too often.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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