Benjamin Martin

Introduction

Benjamin Martin, a 21-year-old from Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty in federal court to transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The plea, announced by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo on November 2, 2026, is the product of a prosecution that says Martin spent more than two years inside a small crew that illegally sold handguns in western New York — including a completed $600 sale in Amherst and follow-up negotiations over a “ghost gun” and a revolver. He is the latest member of the group to be convicted; three co-conspirators have already pleaded or been convicted and are awaiting sentencing, and sentencing for Martin itself is scheduled for March 4, 2027.

Background Information

According to the Justice Department, between March 2023 and June 23, 2025, Martin conspired with Hassain Humphrey, Keishawn Turner, Jylin Woods, and Jerry Antonio Baine to illegally sell firearms. None of the men — by Martin’s own admission in the plea — was a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector of firearms, meaning every gun that moved through the arrangement changed hands outside the federal licensing system the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exists to police. The case was investigated by the Buffalo Police Department under Commissioner Erika Shields and the ATF under Special Agent-in-Charge Bryan DiGirolamo, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Louis A. Testani and Monica Benjovsky.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Pleaded guilty; sentencing pending. Martin admitted the conduct set out below by pleading guilty to transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident. He has not yet been sentenced, and the charge remains an adjudicated plea on one count rather than a finding on every act described.

The conduct at the center of the plea is a documented gun sale and a planned follow-up. On November 10, 2023, Martin and Humphrey met an individual at a location in Amherst, New York, to sell a handgun for $600; with assistance from Jylin Woods, the transaction was completed. Martin told the buyer he could supply additional firearms, and between November 10 and December 14, 2023, he messaged the individual about selling a “ghost gun” — a privately manufactured handgun with no serial number — and a revolver, discussed prices for both, and coordinated a meeting location. In parallel he messaged Humphrey that he had secured a buyer for two firearms including the ghost gun, and the two discussed how they would split the profits among themselves and a third, unnamed individual.

The release situates the case inside Operation Take Back America, the Justice Department’s nationwide initiative that marshals department resources against illegal firearms and violent crime. Martin’s guilty plea to transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident — the count that captures the Amherst sale — is the narrowest of the conspiracy’s acts, but it is an admission: by pleading, he accepted responsibility for putting a handgun into the hands of a person who could not lawfully buy one, in a transaction he personally arranged and completed with Woods’ help.

His co-conspirators’ outcomes show where the case is heading. Humphrey, Turner, and Baine were previously convicted in the same investigation and are awaiting sentencing, and charges remain pending against Jylin Woods. Martin, at 21, faces a maximum of five years on the count to which he pleaded when U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo sentences him on March 4, 2027 — a ceiling that reflects the transfer offense itself rather than the full span of conduct the release describes.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The consequence to date is the plea itself and the machine around it. Martin stands convicted of a federal felony by his own admission, and the announcement ties the case to a named, ongoing federal initiative rather than to any public outcry. The release carries no statement from Martin or an attorney on his behalf, and no sentencing position has been made public. For the two buyers and sellers around him, the record is likewise public: three co-defendants convicted, one set of charges pending, and a $600 handgun sale in Amherst that became the admitting act in a federal courtroom.

Current Status

Martin pleaded guilty on November 2, 2026, and is awaiting sentencing before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, scheduled for March 4, 2027. The transfer count to which he pleaded carries a statutory maximum of five years; because he has not yet been sentenced, no term of imprisonment has been imposed, and any sentence will be determined by the judge under federal sentencing law. Co-defendants Humphrey, Turner, and Baine await their own sentencings, and charges against Jylin Woods remain pending.

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 21, Martin exits the plea a federal felon awaiting a prison term that will be set in March 2027. The admission forecloses any public claim of innocence about the Amherst sale and the ghost-gun negotiations that followed it, and it places him inside a four-conviction-and-counting roster for a crew that sold handguns outside the licensing system for more than two years. Whatever sentence Vilardo imposes, the conviction itself is permanent: a firearms-transfer felony, admitted in open court, that will follow him long after any supervised-release term ends.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, “Buffalo man pleads guilty for his role in gun trafficking conspiracy,” November 2, 2026. source