Attorney General James Announces Convictions and Sentencings of Five Ghost Gun Traffickers in Queens

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the convictions and sentencing of five defendants charged with selling dozens of illegal ghost guns, assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition in Queens, New York. An investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) recovered 86 firearms – including 55 ghost guns and 25 assault weapons – and over 90 high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The investigation focused on Satveer Saini and his associates, Mateo Castro-Agudelo, Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, and Milanjit Sidhu. Saini and his associates trafficked their firearms by transporting 3D-printed ghost guns assembled in Nassau County and serialized firearms purchased in Indiana into Queens, where they were stored and sold.

“Gun traffickers who specialize in selling illegal and untraceable weapons undermine our commonsense gun safety laws and put all New Yorkers at risk,” said Attorney General James. “With this investigation, we put a dangerous gun trafficking ring out of business and brought its members to justice. My office will continue to use all the resources at our disposal to take illegal guns off our streets and protect New Yorkers from gun violence.”

The convictions were the result of a joint investigation between OCTF, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) that began in 2023. In July 2024, Attorney General James announced a 625-count indictment charging the five defendants for their involvement in the sale and possession of firearms. The investigation included controlled firearms purchase operations, covert video surveillance, social media monitoring, and analysis of financial and telephone records.

The investigation revealed that Saini, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and Senhaji-Rivas purchased and transported firearms from Indiana, which has less restrictive gun laws than New York. Fernandez-Gonzalez also bought 3D-printed ghost guns in Nassau County and brought them to Queens for other members of the trafficking ring to sell. Saini, Castro-Agudelo, and Senhaji-Rivas all sold trafficked firearms, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition during the course of the investigation. 

Saini sold these firearms in various locations in Queens, including at the Louis C. Moser Playground in Jackson Heights on a weekday afternoon, and in the parking lot of the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst.

Castro-Agudelo and Fernandez-Gonzalez used a garage in Elmhurst to store weapons, at one point hiding twelve firearms – including seven ghost guns – and numerous high-capacity magazines inside a guitar case in the garage. Castro-Agudelo used the guitar case to transport firearms and ammunition to his customers. At least one of the firearms sales he made took place outside of a smoke shop in Jackson Heights, where he worked.

The five individuals convicted and sentenced are:

• Mateo Castro-Agudelo, 21, of Long Island City, NY
• Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez, 20, of Richmond Hill, NY
• Satveer Saini, 20, of East Elmhurst, NY
• Milanjit Sidhu, 20, of Greenwood, IN
• Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas, 20, of Astoria, NY

Mateo Castro Agudelo pleaded guilty on November 2, 2025, to Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony offense, and Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E non-violent felony. On November 20, 2025, he was sentenced to nine and a half years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision for his role in the transactions.

Hargeny Fernandez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty on November 2, 2025, to Criminal Possession of a Firearm in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony offense, and Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E non-violent felony. On November 20, 2025, he was sentenced to five and a half years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision for his role in the transactions.

Satveer Saini pleaded guilty on July 7, 2025, to Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony offense, and Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E non-violent felony. Saini also forfeited $11,925 for firearms sales he made to undercover investigators. On September 10, 2025, he was sentenced to nine years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision for his role in the transactions.

Milanjit Sidhu pleaded guilty on March 7, 2025, to Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E non-violent felony. On November 20, 2025, he was sentenced to a prison sentence equivalent to time already served, approximately 16 months.

Adam Youssef Senhaji-Rivas pleaded guilty on November 2, 2025, to Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony offense, and Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E non-violent felony. On November 20, 2025, he was sentenced to five years in state prison with five years of post-release supervision for his role in the transactions.

“The NYPD’s strategy for driving shootings to historic lows is simple: identify the guns, identify the people moving them, and build the cases that take them off our streets,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “This investigation is that strategy in action. The women and men of the NYPD helped seize 86 firearms, including ghost guns and assault rifles, before they could ever be used to harm New Yorkers. And today, the five individuals behind this gun-trafficking pipeline are off the streets for good. I want to thank our investigators and our partners in the Attorney General’s Office for the meticulous work that led to these convictions.”

“The convictions and sentencings of these individuals mark a decisive victory in the battle against illegal firearms and the grave threat they pose to public safety,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “The defendants' criminal enterprise, which involved transporting and selling deadly weapons, fueled the cycle of gun violence and jeopardized countless lives. HSI New York remains resolute in our mission to dismantle gun trafficking networks and protect New Yorkers. I commend the New York Attorney General's Office, the NYPD, and our law enforcement partners for their unwavering dedication to ensuring justice and safeguarding our city.”

For HSI, this investigation was led by HSI New York's LaGuardia Airport Border Enforcement Security Task Force within HSI New York, which consists of HSI special agents and task force officers from the NYPD, Federal Air Marshal Service, Queens District Attorney’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). HSI Task Force Officer/NYPD Detective Ronald Cruz served as the lead investigator, who is supervised by NYPD Sergeant Dominick Desiervi, Lieutenant John Tancredi, and Assistant Chief Jerry O’Sullivan, under the overall supervision of Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

For OAG, the investigation was led by OCTF Detective Michael Dealmeida, under the supervision of OCTF Supervising Detective Bradford Miller, Assistant Chief Ismael Hernandez, and Deputy Chief Andrew Boss, with special assistance from the detective specialists from the OAG Special Operations Unit, led by Deputy Chief Sean Donovan. The Attorney General’s Investigations Division is led by Chief Oliver Pu-Folkes.

The Attorney General would also like to thank the Indianapolis III Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Ghost Gun Initiative of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and NYPD’s Major Case Field Intelligence Team,  the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Garden City Police Department, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices from the Southern District of Indiana and the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol for their valuable assistance and participation in this investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by OCTF Assistant Deputy Attorney General Amanda Fix, as well as former OCTF Assistant Deputy Attorneys General Ann Lee and Joseph Marciano, under the supervision of Downstate OCTF Deputy Chief Lauren Abinanti with the assistance of OCTF Legal Support Analyst Alex DiGiacomo. Nicole Keary is the Deputy Attorney General in Charge of OCTF. The Criminal Justice Division is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado. Both the Investigations Division and the Division for Criminal Justice are overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.