Lesson learned?
A former teacher at Stuyvesant High School -- which is only steps from Ground Zero -- was arrested Tuesday for selling guns to undercover agents -- and boasting that he'd like to see terror groups succeed.
Theophilis Burroughs, of Newark, was arrested at a Bronx warehouse after arranging the sale of a dozen guns, including three assault rifles and a small arsenal of semi-automatic pistols, officials said.
And before being arrested on Tuesday, the teacher allegedly heaped high praise on Hamas and Hezbollah -- but officials said he wasn't connected with any terror groups.
"While there were overtones of his interest in a terrorist group, ultimately we have found no proof of any terrorist connection," said Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's office.
The transactions allegedly were negotiated in the Bronx with the undercover detectives taking physical possession of all but one of the firearms at a storage facility in Spartenburg, South Carolina, prosecutors said.
Among the firearms sold to the undercover detectives were: a Walther P99 pistol, two Norinco SKS Assault Rifles with a 37-round magazine and a 35-round magazine, an AK-47 Assault Rifle, a Makarov pistol, a Sig Sauer pistol, an European American Arms .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol, a Hi Point .45 caliber pistol, a Grendel .380 caliber pistol, two Smith and Wesson pistols, and one Rossi .38 caliber revolver.
Local
Sources said that Burroughs, 49, who was on leave from the downtown high school, was arrested with over a dozen others who were hit with weapons-selling and cigarette smuggling charges.
During the course of the investigation, which began in July 2009, the defendants allegedly purchased more than 130,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes for more than $5,000,000 and evaded paying more than $6,000,000 in taxes owed to New York City and New York State, prosecutors said.
In addition to the illegal sale of firearms, Burroughs has also been charged with selling the narcotic pain killer, Oxycodone, to undercover detectives.
Burroughs has been a teacher since 1992, according to education officials. He received tenure but was later placed on unpaid leave in September of 2009 for using innaproproate language towards a student and charges of teacher misconduct, officials said.
According to the New York Post, when Burroughs was cuffed, he wet his pants.
