An ex-con who went to prison for shooting a teenager to death during a birthday party went on to go into business as a gun trafficker in Queens after his release on parole, federal prosecutors say.
James Strong used his new lease on life to allegedly sell pistols and rifles to two buyers he thought would be shipping the weapons in barrels to Trinidad. But the buyers were actually undercover cops and he now faces federal firearm trafficking charges, authorities announced last week.
Strong, 35, was released on parole in October 2023 after serving nearly 16 years for killing 17-year-old Ricky Anthony Williams in 2007. Strong was also 17 when he shot Williams to death and was arrested a month later.
Court Documents
Some of the twenty-one firearms sold by Strong to undercovers between January 23, 2025, and
March 13, 2025. (Court Documents)
The teens were members of two dueling groups of young people that frequently duked it out when they met at parties, police said at the time of the teen’s killing.
On July 22, 2007, the groups clashed at a backyard birthday party in North Valley Stream, L.I. — but this time Strong used bullets instead of fists, police told the Long Island Herald. Both Strong and Williams lived in Queens at the time.
Strong was convicted of manslaughter and weapon possession for shooting Williams eight times at the party.
The killer didn’t stay out of trouble for long after finally making it out of prison.
Less than a year after his release, a domestic violence call led cops in Long Beach, L.I., where Strong now lives, to find a gun in his trunk last Sept. 16, according to a federal court filing.
And between January and March of this year, he allegedly sold 21 firearms to two undercover officers in Queens Village, meeting them on five separate occasions, “walking from his vehicle to the [officers’] vehicle with bags loaded with guns and ammunition,” according to federal prosecutors.
Strong, who was indicted June 25, was arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court on Wednesday and ordered held without bail.
Strong’s lawyer didn’t return a phone call seeking comment.
The ex-con was one of six people charged in two separate indictments out of Brooklyn Federal Court, federal prosecutors announced last week.
Federal prosecutors indicted five other accused gun dealers: Karsem Allen, 49, Carolyn Hicks-Torres, 53, Henry McCummings, 43, Rohnique Posey, 47, and Dominic Smith, 31.
They’re accused of selling 29 semiautomatic handguns, stolen firearms, firearms with obliterated serial numbers, machine guns and “ghost guns,” mainly in Queens apartment complexes.
“Strong and his co-defendants allegedly funneled untraceable ghost guns and other deadly firearms into a vibrant Queens community, putting countless lives—including children—at risk,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “Strong is a convicted killer who was out on parole when he carried out these sales, often in broad daylight and just steps from a school.”
Originally Published: July 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM EDT
