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Glendale News Press
March 26 2005
N.Y. to host arms cases
Local men Garegin Gasparyan, Tigran Gevorgyan are accused of dealing
military weapons.
By Jackson Bell, News-Press and Leader
Two local men accused of belonging to an organized crime ring that
plotted to smuggle military firearms into the United States will have
their cases moved to New York, federal officials said Friday.
Garegin Gasparyan, 28, of Burbank and Tigran Gevorgyan, 21, of
Glendale, are among 18 alleged members of a crime syndicate accused
of trying to sell $2.5 million worth of weapons -- including
rocket-propelled grenade launchers and shoulder-to-fire
surface-to-air missiles -- to an FBI informant. The informant posed
as an arms trafficker with ties to Al Qaeda, prosecutors said. The
two were arrested locally March 16.
Gasparyan and Gevorgyan agreed Friday in a Los Angeles federal
courthouse to have their case handled by the New York U.S. Attorney's
office, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's local
office.
"They waived their hearing, essentially agreeing to appear in New
York," Mrozek said. "It's [New York's] case, we were just assisting
them in the initial proceedings out here."
Armand Abramian, a 27-year-old Glendale man police were searching for
at the time of the arrests, has contacted authorities through his
lawyer, said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles
office.
"Earlier in this week, his attorney was negotiating his surrender,
but it was unclear if he was in custody earlier today," Eimiller said
Friday.
Representatives from New York's FBI office were unavailable late
Friday.
The arrests were a result of a year-long investigation that included
15,000 wire-tapped phone conversations, according to the criminal
complaint unsealed March 16 in a New York federal court. The suspects
were arrested during roundups in Los Angeles, New York City and
Miami.
The ring's alleged masterminds -- Arthur Solomonyan and Christiaan
Dewet Spies, both of New York -- were arrested after meeting with the
informant to finalize plans to import the military weapons from
Eastern Europe, prosecutors said.
The suspects sold eight illegal machineguns and other assault weapons
to the informant, prosecutors said.
Gasparyan and Gevorgyan were being held Friday at Metropolitan
Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Mrozek said. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Johnson set bail at $500,000, but
prosecutors have until Wednesday to appeal the bond setting to a New
York judge, he said.
* JACKSON BELL covers public safety and courts. He may be reached at
(818) 637-3232 or at [email protected].
March 26 2005
N.Y. to host arms cases
Local men Garegin Gasparyan, Tigran Gevorgyan are accused of dealing
military weapons.
By Jackson Bell, News-Press and Leader
Two local men accused of belonging to an organized crime ring that
plotted to smuggle military firearms into the United States will have
their cases moved to New York, federal officials said Friday.
Garegin Gasparyan, 28, of Burbank and Tigran Gevorgyan, 21, of
Glendale, are among 18 alleged members of a crime syndicate accused
of trying to sell $2.5 million worth of weapons -- including
rocket-propelled grenade launchers and shoulder-to-fire
surface-to-air missiles -- to an FBI informant. The informant posed
as an arms trafficker with ties to Al Qaeda, prosecutors said. The
two were arrested locally March 16.
Gasparyan and Gevorgyan agreed Friday in a Los Angeles federal
courthouse to have their case handled by the New York U.S. Attorney's
office, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's local
office.
"They waived their hearing, essentially agreeing to appear in New
York," Mrozek said. "It's [New York's] case, we were just assisting
them in the initial proceedings out here."
Armand Abramian, a 27-year-old Glendale man police were searching for
at the time of the arrests, has contacted authorities through his
lawyer, said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles
office.
"Earlier in this week, his attorney was negotiating his surrender,
but it was unclear if he was in custody earlier today," Eimiller said
Friday.
Representatives from New York's FBI office were unavailable late
Friday.
The arrests were a result of a year-long investigation that included
15,000 wire-tapped phone conversations, according to the criminal
complaint unsealed March 16 in a New York federal court. The suspects
were arrested during roundups in Los Angeles, New York City and
Miami.
The ring's alleged masterminds -- Arthur Solomonyan and Christiaan
Dewet Spies, both of New York -- were arrested after meeting with the
informant to finalize plans to import the military weapons from
Eastern Europe, prosecutors said.
The suspects sold eight illegal machineguns and other assault weapons
to the informant, prosecutors said.
Gasparyan and Gevorgyan were being held Friday at Metropolitan
Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, Mrozek said. U.S.
Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Johnson set bail at $500,000, but
prosecutors have until Wednesday to appeal the bond setting to a New
York judge, he said.
* JACKSON BELL covers public safety and courts. He may be reached at
(818) 637-3232 or at [email protected].