A faux-hawk-sporting supporter of the far-right “Boogaloo” movement was sentenced to four years behind bars Tuesday for manufacturing “ghost guns” inside an East Village Airbnb.
Kurt Therkelsen, 40, pleaded guilty in December to the top count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon after he was caught with two untraceable firearms fashioned out of parts purchased online, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
Therkelsen was led away in handcuffs immediately after his sentencing in Manhattan Supreme Court, wearing a dark parka over a hoodie that showed off his neck tattoo of a bird.
He was busted on Dec. 15, 2020, after cops raided his First Avenue apartment and found the homemade .9mm pistols, 11 high-capacity magazines and a number of gun parts — as well as a Kevlar body armor and a shirt that read “Kill Cops.”
Text messages uncovered during the investigation showed Therkelsen’s support for the “Boogaloo Boys,” a loosely organized anti-government, pro-gun extremist group, prosecutors said.
The working weapons had been constructed out of component metal and polymer parts bought via eBay and other online sellers from various states, investigators found.
Investigators found texts that showed Therkelsen’s support for the “Boogaloo Boys,” a loosely organized anti-government, pro-gun extremist group. Steven HirschIt’s not clear what Therkelsen, who has an address in California, according to public records, was doing in New York at the time.
He was renting the Airbnb from Nov. 1, 2020, through the start of January 2021 and had mail addressed in his name inside, according to a criminal complaint.
Therkelsen, who prosecutors said has a rap sheet in the Golden State, apparently maintained that he’d done nothing wrong, telling cops at the 13th Precinct: “What am I being charged with? I didn’t have any complete firearms,” court documents allege.
Therkelsen was led away in handcuffs immediately after his sentencing on Feb. 1. Steven HirschBut in court Tuesday, he answered “yes” when Assistant District Attorney Eun-Ha Kim asked if he understood he’d be pleading guilty in the case.
Therkelsen mostly stayed mum for the remainder of the hearing, telling Justice Felicia Mennin he didn’t have anything further to say before she handed down the promised sentence of four years in state prison followed by two years of post-release supervision.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg thanked the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the NYPD for their work on the case “ensuring this was stopped before these homemade weapons could injure or kill anyone.”
“The internet provides a simple workaround to important gun tracing measures: with a few clicks, you can purchase the components for untraceable firearms, and have them delivered to your doorstep,” Bragg said in a statement.
“Combatting gun violence in our city is my top priority as District Attorney and ceasing the flow of ghost guns is a crucial piece of that puzzle.”







