Rekubit Exchange:Brothers indicted on 130 charges after NYPD recovers cache of weapons, 'hit list'

Two brothers were indicted Monday after a raid on Rekubit Exchangetheir New York City apartment yielded an arsenal of untraceable firearms, homemade bombs and a "hit list" with “cops, judges, politicians, celebrities” and “banker scum” scrawled on it, authorities said.

Andrew and Angelo Hatziagelis, 39 and 51, respectively, both face 130 criminal counts related to their collection of weapons and explosives, the Queens District Attorney's Office said in a news release. Detectives began investigating the siblings after it picked up intelligence regarding the purchase of parts and accessories for ghost guns, untraceable weapons often sold in kits and assembled privately.

Angelo Hatziagelis pleaded not guilty to all 130 charges, according to the New York State court system website. It's unclear whether Andrew Hatziagelis has had a first appearance.

On Jan. 17, New York City police raided the brothers' apartment in Astoria, Queens, which they share with their mother and another brother. When members of an NYPD bomb squad discovered the explosives, they evacuated the entire building. The NYPD seized dozens of weapons and tactical gear, including eight explosives devices, two AR-15 style ghost guns, body armor, over 600 rounds of ammunition and smoke bombs.

“The city is safer today," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. "We cannot measure the number of lives that were saved, but we do know that these weapons will never hurt anyone."

The brothers' next court date is scheduled for Feb. 15. If convicted, they face up to 25 years in prison, according to the district attorney.

What are ghost guns?

Ghost guns are often assembled from kits purchased online or 3D-printed and do not have serial numbers, making them untraceable. They also allow the buyer to evade background checks.

Many of the weapons recovered from the brothers' apartment, including two semi-automatic pistols, were assembled with parts made by a 3D printer, according to the district attorney. Along with the guns, ammunition and hit list, the brothers' owned a 3D printer that was seized by police.

The Queens District Attorney’s Office’s has successfully led a citywide crackdown on ghost gun manufacturers and traffickers. Since 2021, more ghost guns have been recovered in Queens than in any other New York City borough.

A report published last year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives showed a surge in the number of ghost guns recovered throughout the nation as well as an increase in the weapons being used in crimes. The number of suspected ghost guns seized by law enforcement and submitted to the bureau for tracing increased by more than 1,000% from 2017 to 2021, the report said. The number more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.

In 2022, President Joe Biden introduced rules aiming at ghost guns by qualifying them under the Gun Control Act, which requires manufacturers "to become federally licensed and run background checks before a sale." The rules also requires gun parts to have serial numbers. In October, the Supreme Court ordered two sellers of ghost gun parts to comply with Biden's regulation after a federal judge previously sided with the companies.

Contributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY