Former NYPD Officer and New Jersey Corrections Officer Plead Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to Conspiring to Distribute Firearms and Stolen Goods

According to the complaint, the plea agreements, the informations to which VENEZIA and KANWISHER each pled, and statements made in court:

From September 2010 to October 2011, VENEZIA and KANWISHER participated in a scheme to transport firearms and what they believed were stolen goods, including slot machines, cigarettes, and other merchandise, across state lines. VENEZIA was an active-duty NYPD officer who worked in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct for part of the time that he participated in the conspiracy. At all times, KANWISHER was a corrections officer in New Jersey. The leader of the conspiracy was William Masso, who was an active-duty NYPD officer in Brooklyn’s 68th precinct. As part of the scheme, VENEZIA, KANWISHER and their co-conspirators helped transport three M-16 rifles, one shotgun, 16 handguns—the majority of which had been defaced to remove or alter the serial number—six slot machines, and thousands of cartons of cigarettes as well as various counterfeit merchandise. In total, the goods they illegally transported carried a street value of approximately $1 million.

In preparing for, and carrying out this scheme, the defendants specifically discussed using their credentials and knowledge as law enforcement officers. For example, in a meeting on March 24, 2011, Masso told VENEZIA and KANWISHER that they should carry their law enforcement badges during the operation and, if stopped, should say they were police officers working off-duty to deliver items another person had purchased at an auction. At that same meeting, KANWISHER discussed a potential problem using a certain brand of rental truck to transport the merchandise since law enforcement is trained to look for that type of truck in connection with potential criminal activity. He later discussed with MASSO how he would assist anyone who was pulled over by law enforcement.