East Rockaway man stockpiled ghost guns, prosecutors say

An East Rockaway man who was allegedly stockpiling an arsenal of ghost guns in his home is facing local charges that could send him to prison for up to 15 years, according to Nassau prosecutors.

They said Friday that a grand jury indicted Thomas Saxton on 24 felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and seven misdemeanor counts of the same charge before his arraignment Wednesday in Nassau County Court.

A ghost gun is a firearm that comes in parts, is assembled privately and is untraceable.

Records showed Friday that Saxton was in custody at Nassau’s jail.

Saxton’s attorney, Greg Madey, said Friday that his client pleaded not guilty before acting State Supreme Court Justice Terence Murphy, who remanded him without bail.

The Mineola lawyer declined to comment further on the case.

Nassau police seized seven ghost gun handguns, two assault rifles — one a ghost gun — along with more than 60 high-capacity magazines, ammunition and ghost gun parts at Saxton’s home, according to prosecutors.

Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement Friday that the volume of firearms seized in the county in 2022 “is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory.”

She said so far this year, authorities have seized approximately 170 weapons in Nassau, compared with 114 in the same period last year.

Donnelly pledged to work “to stem the flow of these illegal weapons,” including by collaborating with federal and local law enforcement agencies.

Authorities said the seizure at Saxton’s home followed a gunpoint threat he allegedly made against his wife at a Queens hospital on Feb. 17.

Queens prosecutors alleged in a February news release that Saxton pulled out a gun and threatened to kill his wife as she held their 2-year-old child inside Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Glen Oaks.

They said Saxton, who lives on Baisley Avenue, also allegedly called his wife after leaving the hospital and told her he would kill her in her sleep.

The NYPD found Saxton in the hospital parking lot near his vehicle, and he allegedly dropped a loaded magazine, according to law enforcement officials.

Queens prosecutors said police then recovered two ghost guns, a loaded 10 mm pistol and a 9 mm pistol, along with ammunition for both weapons, from him.

They also alleged that police found a plastic bag with cocaine in it in Saxton’s wallet.

Online court records show Saxton has pleaded not guilty in the Queens case, in which prosecutors said he also faces up to 15 years in prison.