MEMORANDUM & ORDER On April 26, 2023, a federal grand jury sitting in Brooklyn indicted Defendant John Montanez for possession of one Hornady .357 caliber cartridge as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1). (Indictment (Dkt. 1).) Mr. Montanez now moves to dismiss the indictment under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(1) and to suppress the physical evidence and his post-arrest statements under Rule 12(b)(3)(C). (Mot. to Suppress Physical Evid. & Mot. to Dismiss (“First Mot.”) (Dkt. 20-1); Mot. to Suppress Statements (“Second Mot.”) (Dkt. 25-1).) For the reasons that follow, Mr. Montanez’s motions are DENIED. I. BACKGROUND A. Search of Mr. Montanez’s Apartment On February 17, 2022, United Parcel Service (“UPS”) personnel intercepted a suspicious package addressed to “Lily Gonzalez, Fl 2, 731 New Jersey Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207-7011.” (First Mot. at 2.) Upon inspection, UPS determined that the package contained firearm components: two completed lower receivers, two slides, and two magazines. (Id.) UPS then contacted the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”). (Id. at 2-3.) NYPD Detective Jose Castano took possession of the package and was able to assemble the firearm components to create an operable firearm. (First Search Warrant Application (Dkt. 20-2, ECF 7-11) 12; Gov. Opp. to First Mot. (“First Gov. Opp.”) (Dkt. 21) at 2.) Detective Castano searched for the intended recipient and address in a law enforcement database and found no connection between Lily Gonzalez and 731 New Jersey Avenue; the search indicated that Mr. Montanez lived at the address since February 2020. (First Search Warrant Application
9-10; First Gov. Opp. at 3.) Detective Castano then determined that Mr. Montanez had been convicted of manslaughter in New York in 2006 and that he was on parole for the same offense until December 2022. (First Search Warrant Application 17; First Gov. Opp. at 3.) The following day, on February 18, 2022, the NYPD and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office applied for an anticipatory no-knock search warrant for Mr. Montanez’s apartment. (See First Search Warrant Application.) Kings County Supreme Court Justice Guy J. Mangano, Jr. issued the warrant the same day. (See First Search Warrant (Dkt. 20-2, ECF 12).) Later that day, the NYPD and Kings County District Attorney’s Office amended their search warrant application, noting that the firearm components in the package were modified so as to make them inoperable. (See Second Search Warrant Application (Dkt. 20-2, ECF 1-4).) Kings County Supreme Court Justice Jean T. Walsh issued the second search warrant in the evening of February 18, 2022. (Second Search Warrant (Dkt. 20-2, ECF 5).) The search warrant stated that there was probable cause to believe that there were firearm components at 731 New Jersey Avenue, Floor 2. (Id.) The application to search Mr. Montanez’s apartment was granted on the condition that: “an individual (who appears to be over the age of 18) who states that he or she is the intended recipient [of] the subject package or the rightful owner thereof’ then “enter[s] into the subject location after acceptance of the package.” (Id.) On the morning of February 21, 2022, Detective Castano, posing as a UPS delivery person, rang the doorbell to Mr. Montanez’s apartment at 731 New Jersey Avenue and said that he had a package. (Affidavit of Jose Castano (“Castano Aff.”) (Dkt. 21-1)
