Eleven men indicted for illegal firearms possession, drugs

DOJ Press

SAVANNAH, GA:  Eleven defendants face federal charges including illegal possession of firearms and drug possession after separate indictments by a grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia, while recent actions in U.S. District Court include guilty pleas and criminal sentences related to illegal gun possession. 

The indicted cases are being investigated as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the FBI, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in an ongoing effort to reduce violent crime with measures that included targeting those who illegally possess firearms.

“These indictments and prosecutions continue to send the unmistakable message: convicted felons are not legally allowed to possess firearms,” said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “Getting guns out of the hands of criminals is essential to making our streets safer.” 

In the past three years, more than 710 defendants have been federally charged in the Southern District of Georgia for illegal firearms offenses – most often for possessing a firearm after conviction for a previous felony.


Defendants named in federal indictments from the December 2021 term of the U.S. District Court grand jury include:


 

Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Additional defendants recently have been adjudicated on federal charges that include illegal firearms possession:

Agencies investigating these cases include the ATF, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia State Patrol, the Savannah Police Department, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the Pooler Police Department, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, the Wrightsville Police Department, the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office, and the McDuffie County Sheriff’s Office.

The cases are being prosecuted for the United States by Southern District U.S. Attorney’s Office Assistant U.S. Attorneys, including Henry W. Syms Jr., Patricia G. Rhodes, Tara M. Lyons, Jennifer A. Stanley, Marcela C. Mateo, Steven H. Lee, Joshua S. Bearden, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Darron J. Hubbard.

Under federal law, it is illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she falls into one of nine prohibited categories including being a felon; illegal alien; or unlawful user of a controlled substance. Further, it is unlawful to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense or violent crime. It is also illegal to purchase – or even to attempt to purchase – firearms if the buyer is a prohibited person or illegally purchasing a firearm on behalf of others. Lying on ATF Form 4473, which is used to lawfully purchase a firearm, also is a federal offense. 

For more information on the lawful purchasing of firearms, please see: https://www.atf.gov/qa-category/atf-form-4473.

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