Former Freeport man accused of selling illegal guns from South Carolina in New York
Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly. Credit: Howard Schnapp
A former Freeport man has been arrested and accused of buying nearly a dozen firearms at a pawnshop in South Carolina and illegally reselling the purchases in Nassau, according to the county district attorney’s office.
The man, Kim Lilly, 45, now of Greenville, South Carolina, sold rifles and pistols between August 2023 and January, and had two other firearms when he was arrested earlier this month, the office said in a news release.
Lilly was arraigned Wednesday and charged on an indictment with 59 counts, including criminal sale of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. He was remanded to the Nassau County jail. The case is due back in court May 23.
Lilly is accused of selling 11 firearms. All but one were loaded and sold with ammo, officials said.
Of those guns, the office said, one “was defaced and hidden beneath the driver side floor mat of Lilly’s car.”
In a news release, Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Lilly made several trips in and out of New York, up and down the I-95 corridor, to engage in illegal gun trafficking.
A co-defendant who was in the car, Tomeca Jeter, 49, also of South Carolina, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, with bail set at $50,000 cash, $100,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond.
Neither attorney for the defendants could be reached for comment.
The district attorney’s office did not say whom the guns were sold to or how Lilly was caught.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
