A man "motivated by Neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies" was indicted on charges of selling firearms and gun parts behind bars in federal custody, New York authorities said Tuesday.
Hayden Espinosa, 24, had just been released from a federal prison in Louisiana on June 4 when he was immediately picked up by the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office on charges in New York City, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced.
Espinosa had access to a contraband cellphone, which allowed him to use a Telegram channel, called “3D Amendment,” to sell "illegal firearms and parts," prosecutors said. An undercover New York police officer was among Espinosa's customers, Bragg said.
Members of Espinosa's channel "were motivated by Neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies," prosecutors said. Channel members are devoted to "ethnically motivated extremism" that's a "combination of racist, antisemitic, xenophobic, misogynistic and homophobic ideology," they said.
"The combination of extremism and firearms is incredibly dangerous and threatens the safety of so many New Yorkers," Bragg said in a statement.
The same Telegram channel had once been used by the racist gunman who killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in 2022, officials said.
“There is a deep digital footprint of white supremacy and Nazi ideology online. Today’s indictment spans multiple states including Ohio, Louisiana and Texas," NYPD Chief of Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner told reporters Tuesday.
The suspect was still in Louisiana on Tuesday, awaiting extradition to New York for his scheduled June 24 arraignment, officials said.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Espinosa had hired or been assigned a criminal defense attorney to speak on his behalf.
Before his arrest, Espinosa had been serving a 33-month federal sentence in Pollock, Louisiana, for illegal weapons possession and making 3D-printed firearms parts.
He is now charged with four counts of illegal transportation of firearms and one count of attempted illegal sale of a firearm.
