Floral Park man charged with making ghost guns in home workshop
A Floral Park man is facing nearly a dozen criminal charges after law enforcement officials discovered a "makeshift workshop" in his home used to manufacture untraceable ghost guns that are capable of mass "devastation," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Tuesday.
A Nov. 20 search warrant executed on the home of Parmbir Singh, 23, found two completed and loaded ghost guns hidden in a secret "trap" next to a sign reading, "I prefer my guns undocumented and untraceable," Donnelly said at a Mineola news conference.
A ghost gun — a firearm without a serial number that can be made at home, often using a 3D printer — was used by the suspect charged in last week's fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, police have said.
Ghost guns on display in Mineola Tuesday were seized from the home of Parmbir Singh, 23, of Floral Park, who pleaded not guilty to charges Monday. Credit: Newsday / Howard Schnapp
"The proliferation of ghost guns in this state and across our country is dangerous and disturbing," Donnelly said. "These weapons can be made anywhere by anyone at any time who has the right tools and a little bit of know how."
Singh pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in Nassau County Criminal Court to two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon; four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; two counts of criminal possession of a firearm; criminal possession of a rapid-fire modification device; and two counts fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Nassau Supreme Court Justice Robert Bogle held Singh on $500,000 cash or $1.25 million bond. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Michael Horn, Singh's Carle Place-based defense attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
Singh pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in October 2023 in connection with stabbing a bouncer in Manhattan, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to probation in January, preventing him from legally possessing a firearm. He did not have a permit for any of the weapons, officials said.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that a joint task force investigation with the Nassau district attorney's office, local police and sheriff's departments, along with the NYPD and federal Homeland Security Investigations, was launched after Singh made dozens of purchases for firearm-related items over 19 months from online sellers.
Among the items seized from Singh's home, all on display at Tuesday's news conference, were a 3D printer, a host of ghost gun elements — including equipment to assemble complete guns — a shotgun and high-capacity magazines, prosecutors said.
"The 3D printer could make anything you want," said Insp. Igor Pinkhasov, head of the NYPD's Financial Crimes Task Force. "You just put it together and you press start."
Also found in Singh's home were two rapid-fire modification devices that can be used to convert semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic weapons capable of firing multiple rounds without reloading, officials said.
Investigators also found several hidden compartments in Singh's bedroom and attic concealed within floating shelves containing two fully ready ghost guns, Donnelly said. One of the guns, Donnelly said, had been modified to discharge two bullets every time the trigger was pulled.
In the spot of the gun where a serial number typically would go, Singh etched an epithet followed by the letters "ATF," a reference to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
It was not immediately clear, the district attorney said, if Singh planned to sell the ghost guns, which could go for more than $1,000 apiece.
William Walker, Homeland Security Investigations' New York special agent in charge, said the task force spent months targeting "some of the region's most egregious firearms traffickers. Investigators trace the flow of illegal firearms and difficult to trace ghost gun parts through cyber-financial analysis. And the team was able to unmask previously unidentified gun purchasers and traffickers."
To date in 2024, the district attorney's office and its partner agencies have recovered 271 illegal guns in Nassau County, including 13 ghost guns, along with more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition and three dozen high-capacity magazines, prosecutors said.
Singh is due back in court on Jan. 15.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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