James Jayshaun Edwards charged with selling illegal weapons in front of his Long Beach home

A Long Beach man allegedly sold almost a dozen guns outside his apartment building just steps from police headquarters and the busy Long Island Rail Road terminal, including two guns that were used in shootings in Nassau and Queens counties, Nassau prosecutors said Wednesday.

Investigators with a gun crime task force monitored James Jayshaun Edwards, 33, for nearly a year as they say he sold high-powered weapons, such as an AR-15-style ghost gun and multiple handguns — hiding some in diaper boxes — just outside his Birch Court apartment building.

He was arraigned before state Supreme Court Justice Robert Schwartz on Aug. 22 on more than 30 illegal gun charges and pleaded not guilty. The judge ordered him held on half a million dollars' cash bail.

Two of the weapons have been traced to multiple shootings in Queens and Nassau that happened as early as 2021, the prosecutor said.

"The defendant allegedly conducted a brazen illegal open-air weapons trafficking business just steps away from Long Beach Police Department Headquarters, packaging up high-powered weapons in duffel bags and diaper boxes and selling them in broad daylight in front of his home," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

"Our investigation determined that two of the guns were used in multiple shootings that injured four victims in Westbury and Long Beach dating back to 2021, which are currently being prosecuted by my office," she said. "This multi-jurisdictional operation not only made the streets of Long Beach safer but has provided us with a key piece of evidence to aid in those prosecutions."

A tip from the NYPD’s Intelligence Division sparked the multi-jurisdictional investigation that included the NYPD, Long Beach police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On June 13, hours after a shooting at an unauthorized beach party several hundred yards away from Edwards’ Long Beach apartment building, prosecutors say, he allegedly sold two assault weapons along with high-capacity magazines.

Donnelly said he attracted buyers through word-of-mouth and sold guns purchased in the South that had been trafficked to Nassau County via the underground gun sales network known as the "iron pipeline."

Prosecutors say they continue to investigate the source of the weapons.

Donnelly said illegal guns often go through numerous buyers and are reused in multiple violent crimes.

After Edwards' arrest, the guns were confiscated, the weapons were test-fired and the ballistics were run through the ATF’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network — a system that compares guns and ballistics from previous shootings.

Federal investigators got a match on a .380 Ruger pistol they say Edwards sold.

Donnelly said that gun had been used in four separate shootings — two in Westbury in April 2022 and one in Long Beach in June of that year. The ballistics also matched the bullets found in a gunshot-riddled car in 2021 on National Boulevard.

Jordan Ayala, 28, and Nharon Hicks, 35, are currently awaiting trial on attempted murder and other charges, stemming from the Westbury shooting that prosecutors say was gang-related. Michael Graham, 38, was charged with assault for a shooting on Sycamore Court in Long Beach.

Another gun confiscated from Edwards was used in a shooting in northern Queens in the 111th Precinct, according to the NYPD.

The 9-mm pistol was used to wound a driver in the back as he sat in his car in March 2022, prosecutors said. In August 2021, someone used the handgun to shoot up a house on Washington Avenue in Roosevelt, authorities said.

"Shutting down this shameless operation in Long Beach prevented untold tragedies, and we will continue investigating until everyone involved in the trafficking pipeline is held to account," NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said.

Edwards is facing 25 years behind bars if convicted of the crimes.

His lawyer Robert Schalk said his client intends to fight the charges.

"Mr. Edwards has never had any legal trouble in his life. He has pleaded not guilty and we await discovery from the district attorney’s office and will fight this case in court," the lawyer said.

Edwards is due back in court on Sept. 20.