BUFFALO, N.Y. — Christian Arroyo Collazo, 28, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Thursday to 36 months in federal prison for his role in a firearms trafficking conspiracy. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr., following Collazo’s conviction on charges of conspiracy to traffic firearms.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua A. Violanti and Jeffrey E. Intravatola, who prosecuted the case, Collazo transported or attempted to transport approximately 40 firearms, including pistols, AR-style rifles, handguns, revolvers, and high-capacity magazines, to the Jamestown, New York area between July 2022 and March 2023. Collazo utilized social media to communicate with potential buyers, often sending photos of firearms to facilitate the illegal sales.
This case was part of an operation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a program aimed at identifying, disrupting, and dismantling high-level criminal organizations that pose a significant threat to the United States. The OCDETF employs a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach to combat organized crime.
The prosecution of this case falls under the new criminal provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law in June 2022. This Act is the first federal legislation specifically targeting unlawful firearms trafficking and straw purchasing.