Sun Valley Man Indicted on Federal Narcotics Charges and Weapons Offenses, including Possession of Ghost Gun and Grenade Launcher

         LOS ANGELES – A San Fernando Valley man was arraigned this afternoon after being arrested Wednesday night on a series of weapons charges and a drug trafficking offense that alleges he possessed about 3.8 kilograms of heroin for sale.

         Edmond Tumasyan, 35, of Sun Valley, pleaded not guilty to charges contained in an 11-count federal grand jury indictment that charges him with possession with intent to distribute heroin and the illegal possession of multiple firearms, including an AR-15-type rifle with no serial number (commonly referred to as a “ghost gun”), machine guns, handguns and silencers, many of them unregistered. The indictment also alleges that Tumasyan illegally possessed an unregistered 40mm grenade launcher. 

         Tumasyan was taken into custody Wednesday evening by members of the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force without incident. At today’s arraignment, Tumasyan pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment and was ordered to stand trial on September 15.

         The firearms seized from Tumasyan’s residence in 2019 were illegally possessed because some allegedly were used in furtherance of drug trafficking and because Tumasyan is a convicted felon, having been previously convicted of crimes involving burglary, false checks and narcotics.

         The Task Force opened a federal case targeting Tumasyan in October 2019 following seizures made by the Glendale Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

         An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

         If he were to be convicted of the 11 charges in the indictment, Tumasyan would face a statutory maximum penalty of life in federal prison.

         The case against Tumasyan is the result of an ongoing investigation by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which is made up of special agents with the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, as well as officers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Glendale Police Department, and the California Department of Health Care Services.

         This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph D. Axelrad of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.