ANSONIA PD
The U.S. Attorney's Office in New York said this custom-made rifle was decorated in markings connected to the Bloods street gang. It had the phrase "suu whoop" on it, a gang call, police said.
ANSONIA — An alleged gun runner previously accused of firing a weapon at people outside his Ansonia residence faces a new crop of federal charges.
Melvin Burroughs, 35, already had 10 criminal charges pending in Ansonia after allegedly firing shots at two men during a dispute on Sixth Street in March 2021. No one was hit, police said at the time.
Ansonia police searched Burroughs’ residence, where they allegedly found three handguns, an AR-15 style rifle, a flame-thrower, along with ammunition and gun parts. Burroughs is not allowed to possess weapons because he has a felony conviction on his record for a 2007 robbery in Clayton County, Ga. that landed him a 10-year prison sentence.
Police released a photo of the flame-thrower, which appears to be The Boring Company‘s “Not A Flamethrower“ device that seemed specifically designed to generate headlines for Elon Musk, the company’s owner.
Two “Glock-style” handguns were “ghost guns,” according to a letter from an assistant U.S. attorney in New York. The custom-made rifle was marked up to look like it was affiliated with the Bloods street gang, according to the government.
In January 2022, while out on bail connected to the Ansonia crimes, Burroughs visited a gun show in Pennsylvania – while being watched by police.
Police stopped Burroughs’ vehicle in Westchester County, N.Y., and said they found 500 rounds of ammunition, kits to build ghost guns, part of an AR-15 rifle, and an 18-inch machete.
He was arrested again and was initially charged federally with illegal possession of ammunition as a convicted felon.
Federal law enforcement agents used cell phone records in part to establish that Burroughs had been selling firearms illegally since 2019. Burroughs would buy parts online and at gun shows, assemble the weapons in his home, and then sell them, federal law enforcement alleges.
Police said Burroughs was connected to at least 32 “ghost gun” kits.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, the defendant — a convicted felon — was in the business of building and selling untraceable ‘ghost guns.’ Thanks to our law enforcement partners, his dangerous ghost gun business has been shut down,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a prepared statement.
Burroughs is now charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of trafficking firearms, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, and; one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Burroughs
