Man who trafficked over 100 ghost guns to Dominican Republic sentenced to nearly 6 years

A Rhode Island man who trafficked more than 100 “ghost guns” to the Dominican Republic was sentenced to nearly 6 years in prison on Thursday.

Robert Alcantara, 36, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms and conspiring to launder money in August, exported his homemade handguns and rifles to the Caribbean from 2017 through last year, laundering the steep profits he made. The Providence man put together the deadly weapons with ghost gun kits he purchased at gun shows.

On top of a 68-month prison term, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Vernon Broderick also imposed a term of three years of supervised release at Alcantara’s sentencing.

“Robert Alcantara alone trafficked over 100 untraceable ghost guns to the Dominican Republic. The proliferation of unlawful ghost guns is a threat to public safety, and our response is clear: We will not let up,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

“Mr. Alcantara accepted responsibility, and the judge reviewed the facts and sentenced him correctly,” his attorney, Ana Davide, said.

Cops caught on to his lethal hobby in November 2021 when Alcantara was pulled over with kits to build 45 ghost guns. He told agents he planned to use them to whip up weapons and that he had more kits at home. He denied selling them.

The ghost gun enthusiast even posted footage of himself on YouTube shooting a DIY Glock in 2019. In the video, he displays a homemade 9mm Glock, loading it with an extended clip before opening fire.

“Everything work. No issue. Very nice,” Alcantara says in the footage.

The January 2022 complaint against Alcantara detailed the crazed decor of his veritable DIY gun factory shown in his cell phone photos, including a poster depicting Donald Trump as a heavyweight boxer above a cluttered workbench with a hydraulic drill press, a vise, and other ghost gun tools. His cell phone also included an image of suitcases filled with cash and guns at a port in the Dominican Republic.

The proliferation of the manufacturing and distribution of fully-functioning polymer guns, which anybody can make at home with the right tools, are of deep concern to law enforcement — being untraceable without serial numbers and purchasable without submitting to a background check.