A man “motivated by Neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies” was indicted for allegedly selling firearms and gun parts while behind bars in federal custody, New York authorities said Tuesday.
Hayden Espinosa, 24, was released from a federal prison in Louisiana on June 4 when he was immediately picked up by the Grant Parish Sheriff”s Office for charges back in New York City, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announced.
Espinosa had access to a contraband cell phone which allowed him to use a Telegram channel, called “3D Amendment,” to sell “illegal firearms and parts,” prosecutors said. An undercover NYPD officer was among’s Espinosa’s customers, Bragg said.
Members of Espinosa’s channel “were motivated by Neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies,” according to prosecutors. Channel members are devoted to “ethnically motivated extremism” that’s a “combination of racist, antisemitic, xenophobic, misogynistic and homophobic ideology,” prosecutors said.
“The combination of extremism and firearms is incredibly dangerous and threatens the safety of so many New Yorkers,” Bragg said in a statement.
This same Telegram channel had once been used by the racist gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo grocery store in 2022, officials said.
“There is a deep digital footprint of white supremacy and Nazi ideology online. Today’s indictment spans multiple states including Ohio, Louisiana and Texas,” NYPD Chief of Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner told reporters on Tuesday.
The suspect was still in Louisiana on Tuesday, awaiting extradition to New York for his scheduled June 24 arraignment, officials said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Espinosa had hired or been assigned an criminal defense attorney to speak on his behalf.
Before this arrest, Espinosa had been serving a 33-month federal sentence in Pollock, Louisiana, for illegal weapons possession and making 3D-printed firearms parts.
He’s now charged with four counts of alleged illegal transportation of firearms and one count of attempted illegal sale of a firearm.