Union County Sheriff's Office
Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan and Undersheriffs Michael Frank and Amilcar Colon congratulate the 37 new Sheriff’s officers who were sworn-in during a ceremony at the Snyder Academy in Elizabeth. The class is the largest and most diverse in the history of the Union County Sheriff’s Office. The new recruits will receive pre-academy training before attending the John H. Stamler Police Academy in July.
Members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office Domestic Violence Unit including Sheriff’s Officer Anthony Zignauskas, Sheriff’s Officer Sergeant Gaetano Bracciale, Sheriff’s Officer Shameko Greene, Retired Sheriff’s Officer Captain Gail Alexander, and Sheriff’s Officer Lieutenant Clifford Meros took part in the Strides4Strength walk in Nomahegan park on June 12, 2016. The Strides4Strength is a walk to end domestic violence was organized by the YWCA of Eastern Union County.
About YWCA Union County
YWCA Union County is a private, nonprofit organization providing services to survivors of domestic violence in Union County. Our services are free of charge and include Emergency Shelter, 24 Hour Hotline, Transitional, Supportive and Permanent Housing, Counseling and Case Management, Court Advocacy and Legal Representation, STEP (Skills Training and Empowerment Program), PALS (Peace, A Learned Solution), CRT (Crisis Response Teams), DV Liaison Program, and Community and Professional Development.
Members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Corrections Department and Public Safety Department, including County Police, participated in this year’s Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics of New Jersey. More than 3,000 law enforcement officers participate in the annual Torch Run, including County Police and Sheriff’s Officers. The race carries the “Flame of Hope” torch that ignites the Opening Ceremony of Summer Games.
New Jersey National Guard Specialist Michael Toro presents Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan with an America flag that flew over U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. Specialist Michael Toro, an Elizabeth native, served with the 328th Military Police Company and flew Americans flags over the base in Cuba in honor of local first responders back home. He is currently delivering flags to local first responder agencies. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)
Sheriff’s Officer Shameko Greene with students from the Queen City Academy Charter School’s 8th Annual Career Day on Thursday, May 12, 2016.
Union County Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Alexander Mirabella and Vernell Wright present a resolution in honor of Police Week to Union County Police Captain Martin Mogensen, Union County Prosecutor’s Office Captain James Russo, Union County Sheriff’s Captain Dennis Burke and members of the Union County SWAT team after a special weapons and tactics demonstration at the SWAT Range in Springfield. They were joined by Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park. Mayors, police chiefs and officials from municipalities throughout Union County attended the informative SWAT demonstration. National Police Week takes place from Sunday, May 15 through Saturday, May 21, 2016. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)
Union County Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen joined Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan, Undersheriff Michael Frank, Captain Dennis Burke and Sheriff’s Chaplin Father Phillip Latronico as Sergeants Brian Howarth and Ryan Wilson placed a wreath in memory of K-9 Lorcan at the Union County Sheriff’s K-9 Monument in Summit during a memorial service for K-9 Lorcan.
They were joined by Sheriff’s K-9 Officers Ashley Current, Tim O’Grady, Bryan Frew and Detective Anthony Gialanella.
K-9 Lorcan, who passed away in March, was Sgt. Wilson’s partner. He joined the Union County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit in May 2009 and was trained in patrol and narcotics detection.
Union County Sheriff Joseph Cryan, Undersheriffs Michael Frank and Amilcar Colon and Captain Dennis Burke congratulate newly promoted Sergeant Anastasio Anastasatos of Clark during a ceremony in the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. Sergeant Anastasatos, a 13-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, is assigned to the Crime Scene Unit and also instructs at the John H. Stamler Police Academy. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)
Press release reposted from the District Attorney’s Office in New York County, in the State of New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., and New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton today announced the indictment of ABDUL DAVIS, 52, for selling 82 firearms and corresponding ammunition to an undercover NYPD detective posing as a Manhattan-based gun dealer, and DAVIS’s girlfriend, SHELITA FUNDERBERK, 50, for her role in the sales. The indictment also charges four Virginia- and Georgia-based men – TRENTON POINTER, 45, DAEMON JENKINS, 49, MALIK RAINEY, 44, and MILTON TILLERY, 37 – for knowingly supplying the firearms for illegal sales in New York City.
The defendants are all charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, as well as various counts of Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the First, Second, and Third Degrees.[1] The indictment follows a long-term investigation, including the use of court-authorized wiretaps, conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Trial Division and detectives from the NYPD’s Firearms Investigation Unit.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., said: “This alleged interstate trafficking conspiracy clearly illustrates how deadly firearms from ‘Iron Pipeline’ states flood New York City’s streets. To stem the flow of illegal guns, we must deter traffickers from this lucrative business by prosecuting not only Manhattan-based illegal weapons dealers, but residents of Southern states who knowingly provide them with guns to be resold in our city.
“But to deter those who stand to make tens of thousands of dollars by selling large quantities of firearms, we must enhance the penalties they face. Currently, whether a defendant sells 10 firearms or 10,000, the penalty is the same: a class B felony. Today I am asking the New York State legislature to create a new A-1 felony, Operating as a Major Firearms Trafficker, for those who illegally sell or possess 20 or more firearms. Modeled after New York’s existing – and proven – Drug Kingpin statute, our proposed Gun Kingpin statute is necessary to put wholesale, illegal weapons dealers out of business.”
Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said: “Illegal firearms like these fuel the very violence in our streets we seek to combat. As alleged, Abdul Davis is responsible for selling more than six dozen firearms in more than 26 separate transactions on the streets of Manhattan. I commend the investigators of the Firearms Investigations Unit and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for dismantling this firearms ring.”
According to the indictment and documents filed in court, between March 16, 2015, and April 19, 2016, DAVIS sold 82 firearms, including 67 pistols, 8 revolvers, 5 assault weapons, and 2 shotguns, as well as corresponding ammunition, to an undercover NYPD detective posing as a Manhattan-based firearms dealer. The sales occurred over 26 separate transactions, all of which took place in the vicinity of West 166th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue in Washington Heights. The sales were conducted in or around the undercover detective’s vehicle, at an average price of approximately $1,150 per firearm. In one instance, DAVIS sold the undercover a Bushmaster Firearms semi-automatic assault rifle with a hundred-round drum magazine and matching ammunition.
FUNDERBERK was present for multiple sales, and drove DAVIS to at least two of the transactions. The investigation revealed that FUNDERBERK allowed DAVIS to use funds from her bank account to purchase the firearms, and, on multiple occasions, wired money to DAVIS for that purpose.
DAVIS allegedly purchased the firearms from Virginia-based co-defendants JENKINS, TILLERY, and POINTER, and Georgia-based RAINEY. Typically, DAVIS negotiated sales over the phone or through text messages, wired money to the firearms dealers’ accounts, and travelled to their homes to pick up the weapons. On some occasions, the firearm dealers agreed to receive payment after DAVIS successfully returned to Manhattan and sold the weapons to the undercover detective.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit (VCEU) and the NYPD’s Firearms Investigation Unit. VCEU was created in 2010 by District Attorney Vance to lead the efforts of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in combatting gun and gang violence, with a special focus on illegal firearms trafficking within New York City. Since its formation, VCEU has brought 22 indictments against 70 gun traffickers operating between New York City and states including Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Since its creation, VCEU has increased gun trafficking prosecutions by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office by more than 1,000 percent, and has conducted investigations resulting in the removal of more than 1,000 illegal firearms from the streets of New York City.
Assistant District Attorney David Nasar is prosecuting the cases under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Christopher Prevost, Deputy Chief of VCEU; Christopher Ryan, Chief of VCEU; and David O’Keefe, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division; as well as Executive Assistant District Attorney John Irwin, Chief of the Trial Division. Investigative Analysts Stephanie Littell and William Andrewes are assisting with the case.
District Attorney Vance thanked Police Commissioner Bratton, as well as Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce, Deputy Chief James Essig, Deputy Inspector Brian Gill, Captain Jonathan Korabel, Lieutenant Thomas McPartland, Sergeants Matthew Griffin and Robert Abramson, Detectives Christopher Shaughnessy and Douglas Lansing, and the undercover detectives of the Firearms Investigation Unit.
District Attorney Vance also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service’s Richmond, VA, Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, as well as the Union County (NJ)’s Sheriff’s Office’s Warrant Squad, for their assistance with the investigation.
[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court, including the indictments, and statements made on the record in court.Defendant Information:
ABDUL DAVIS, D.O.B. 3/23/1964
Linden, NJ
Charges:
SHELITA FUNDERBERK, D.O.B. 10/31/1965
Linden, NJ
Charges:
TRENTON POINTER, D.O.B. 1/16/1971
Chesterfield, VA
Charges:
MALIK RAINEY, D.O.B. 4/14/1972
Fayetteville, GA
Charges:
DAEMON JENKINS, D.O.B. 7/20/1966
Richmond, VA
Charges:
MILTON TILLERY, D.O.B. 12/9/1978
Richmond, VA
Charges: