East Bay Men Plead Guilty To Federal Gun Trafficking Charges; Sold Machine Guns, 'Ghost Guns'
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Three illegal East Bay gun dealers pleaded guilty Friday to federal weapons trafficking charges including the sale of nearly 100 firearms including 30 that were purchased in undercover buys.
United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds said Troy Elias Walker, David Michael Rembert and Daljit Kamal Singh entered their pleas admitting to a single count of conspiracy to deal firearms without a license.
The pleas culminated an investigation by the Justice Department's Cross-Jurisdictional Firearms Trafficking Strike Force operating in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The three men were indicted on August 10th and arrested on August 12, 2021.
In the complaint, prosecutors described how law enforcement agents purchased 17 machinegun conversion switches designed for pistols and 13 other firearms over the course of multiple undercover buys in Concord. The undercover firearm purchases also included buys of "ghost guns" in addition to commercially manufactured firearms.
In their respective plea agreements, the defendants described examples of their illegal firearms sales as part of the conspiracy.
Singh admitted in his plea agreement that on April 21, 2021, he sold a Smith & Wesson handgun with an obliterated serial number and a conversion switch to an undercover law enforcement agent. Rembert was present at the transaction along with Walker, and Rembert admitted in his plea agreement that he obliterated the serial numbers on the handgun.
Rembert also admitted that he installed the conversion switch onto the undercover agent's firearm at the time of the sale, converting the handgun into a machinegun.
He also admitted to May 6, 2021, selling a Glock-style handgun with a conversion switch to an undercover law enforcement agent for $2,000.
Meanwhile, Walker admitted in his plea agreement that on the same day, May 6, 2021, he sold the undercover agent a ghost gun with a Glock slide on it for $1,050.
On June 2, Walker admitted to selling 10 conversion switches for $2,000 and a ghost gun for $1,000. He also sold an AR-15 style rifle and a SKS rifle.
Each defendant admitted that the conspiracy spanned at least from April 15 through July 14, 2021. During that time span, up to 99 firearms were sold with Walker specifically admitting to selling 30 firearms to undercover agents.
In their respective plea agreements, Walker acknowledged that on the day of the arrest, law enforcement agents seized twelve firearms from his residence, Rembert admitted agents seized 38 firearms from his residence, and Singh admitted agents recovered a machinegun pistol from a car registered to him.
The defendants face a maximum term of 5 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
