The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on June 24, 2022, Chief United States District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford sentenced Amrou Mohamed, 26, of Burlington, to a 15-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, following his guilty plea to a charge of aiding and abetting a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm in June of 2021.
According to court records, Mohamed planned for an unnamed buyer to purchase a firearm for him. Mohamed coached the buyer on the steps the buyer would need to take to purchase the firearm for him and informed the buyer that the buyer would need to lie when answering a question on a form asking if the buyer was the actual purchaser of the firearm. On June 2, 2021, Mohamed provided the buyer with funds for the purchase of the firearm, then drove the buyer to a licensed firearms dealer. The buyer selected a Glock 17 9mm pistol and submitted ATF Form 4473 indicating that the buyer was in fact the actual purchaser of the firearm. On June 26, 2021, the Burlington Police Department seized the firearm from Mohamed, finding that it was loaded with ten rounds of 9mm ammunition.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Crawford found that Mohamed’s offense involved between three and seven firearms based on his unlawful possession of various firearms on other occasions.
United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their work on this investigation, as well as the Burlington Police Department and the South Burlington Police Department. U.S. Attorney Kerest stated: “Lying to firearms dealers in order to illegally obtain guns is a serious offense that undermines the safety of our community. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute violations of federal firearms laws.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nate Burris. Mohamed was represented by Attorney Mary Nerino of the Office of the Federal Public Defender.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. Please visit https://www.justice.gov/psn for more information.