The ringleader of a gunrunning network from Pittsburgh to New York that was cited as an example of how illegal guns end up on the streets of New York City admitted today that he paid straw buyers to purchase 44 weapons for him in Western Pennsylvania.
Michael Bassier, 31, of Brooklyn pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of lying in the acquisition of guns for his role in recruiting and paying a group of Pittsburgh defendants who bought guns for him in 2014 and last year.
The district attorney's office in Brooklyn said last year that the Bassier operation perfectly illustrates how the "iron pipeline" of illegal guns flows into New York from other states and described Bassier as a "merchant of death."
About 90 percent of guns recovered in New York are traced to out-of-state sources.
Bassier and a co-conspirator, Nathan Lawrence, also of Brooklyn but with ties to this area through a girlfriend, are both felons and can't have guns.
So, according federal agents and the NYPD, they recruited others in Pittsburgh and Georgia to buy guns for them by lying on purchasing forms at area gun dealerships, such as Gander Mountain and Anthony Arms.
Bassier then transported the guns to New York to sell on the street.
Federal agents and police said Bassier and Lawrence, who is awaiting trial, made six trips to Pittsburgh in all to enlist six straw buyers. All of them have pleaded guilty.
Bassier is also accused of making bus trips to Atlanta and bringing back guns in duffel bags.
When he got off the bus after one such trip in March 2015, he called his girlfriend and bragged about his operation as he walked through Manhattan with a bag full of guns.
"Listen," he said in a call tapped by the NYPD, "I'm walking through Manhattan, right? I've got two Mac 10s on me, an SK assault rifle and four handguns and I'm walking through New York. You wanna know what I do now? I sell guns."
The Pittsburgh straw buyers said they had been introduced to Bassier and Lawrence by a mutual acquaintance.
Investigators were able to identify them with the help of the owner of Johnson's Gun Depot in Norvelt, who after a sale noticed the buyer walk a long way to get to a car and drive away with two men.
He wrote down the Connecticut license plate and police were able to trace it to Lawrence, who had rented the car at Pittsburgh International Airport.
First Published: May 19, 2016, 8:12 p.m.