Gun pipeline shut down by feds
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* US Attorney’s office in Nashville, TN yesterday…
Three Fort Campbell soldiers were charged today with conspiracy and offenses relating to the illegal purchase and transfer of dozens of firearms to the streets of Chicago, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Demarcus Adams, 21; Jarius Brunson, 22; and Brandon Miller, 22, all enlisted members of the U.S. Army and stationed at the Fort Campbell military installation in Clarksville, Tennessee, were arrested this morning by ATF agents and agents of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division. A criminal complaint obtained late yesterday charged each defendant with transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident; making false statements during the purchase of a firearm; engaging in the business without a firearms license; wire fraud; money laundering; and conspiracy to commit Title 18 offenses.
According to the criminal complaint, this investigation began on March 26, 2021, when Chicago police responded to a mass shooting incident. During this incident, multiple people were shot and one person was pronounced dead at the scene. During the resulting investigation, multiple firearms were recovered from the shooting scene and five of the firearms were found to have been recently purchased from Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) dealers in the Clarksville, Tennessee area. Further investigation identified Adams, Brunson and Miller as the majority purchasers of these firearms.
A broader investigation into firearms transaction records from FFLs in the Clarksville region determined that since September 2019, the trio had purchased 91 firearms from multiple FFLs in Clarksville; Oak Grove, Kentucky; Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Paducah, Kentucky. The majority of the firearms were purchased during the last five months. The criminal complaint also alleges that after the firearms were purchased, Miller would provide them to individuals he was associated with in Chicago.
On April 28, 2021, a federal search warrant was executed at the home of Miller and Adams in Clarksville, where 49 empty firearms cases were recovered. Many of these empty cases were matched to firearms recovered by the Chicago Police Department at the scene of recent shootings and homicides.
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 11:59 am:
Good to see the laws on the books enforced. This should be the case whether the guns were purchased in Riverdale IL, or Gary IN, or as in this case Tennessee…
“charged each defendant with transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident; making false statements during the purchase of a firearm; engaging in the business without a firearms license; wire fraud; money laundering; and conspiracy to commit Title 18 offenses.”
- anon2 - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:10 pm:
If the accused are found guilty, they should be doing as much time in Club Fed as Blago.
- @misterjayem - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:15 pm:
On average, each of them purchased one gun every three weeks for 20 months and that didn’t raise trip any alarm bells anywhere.
– MrJM
- Donnie Elgin - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:24 pm:
=On average, each of them purchased one gun every three weeks for 20 months and that didn’t raise trip any alarm bells anywhere=
unless they purchased more often than once every 5 days - no violation of fed law
“Each licensee shall prepare a report of multiple sales or other dispositions whenever the licensee sells or otherwise disposes of, at one time or during any five consecutive business days, two or more pistols, or revolvers, or any combination of pistols and revolvers totalling two or more”
18 U.S.C. § 923(g)(3)(A)
- thisjustinagain - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:24 pm:
This is what ATF should be doing, instead of trying to reclassify everything to create new classes of criminals out of law-abiding citizens (such as bump stocks, 80% receivers, and falsely-named ghost guns allowed by Federal law). We have enough laws on the books already to do so. So where’s the hue and cry from all the Dems about ATF enforcing rules on felons and other prohibited persons from even attempting to buy guns? (crickets) Every attempt is a crime in itself. And then ATF needs to go after licensed dealers who are knowingly and repeatedly ignoring the rules upon probable cause (not mere statistics of straw purchases, because if the dealer did what they are supposed to and still got fooled, that shouldn’t be used as proof of misconduct.
- Anyone Remember - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:30 pm:
===On average, each of them purchased one gun every three weeks for 20 months and that didn’t raise trip any alarm bells anywhere.===
Reminds me of ex-Sen. Phil Gramm’s answer to Al Franken’s asking how many shotguns he had: “Less than I want, more than I need.”
- Cheryl44 - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:46 pm:
Lots of things that aren’t illegal still get looked into.
- Mason born - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 12:57 pm:
These 3 or at least 2 of them, questing 1 flips, ate going to feel the full weight of the prosecution for Straw purchasing. As for how often they purchased the press release sounds like they bought from multiple ffl’s making it harder to notice. Army CID is pretty good at it’s job though.
I wonder where they enlisted from, surely 1 was from Chicago.
- cermak_rd - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 1:33 pm:
I’m glad ATF and army CID are cooperating. That being said, I have to wonder, why did the alleged arms traders keep the 49 firearms cases? And how much room would that take up?
- Blue Dog - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 1:36 pm:
Commit a felony with a gun. Commit a gun felony. 25 years. No parole.
- FormerParatrooper - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 4:19 pm:
These individuals are not representative of the Army I spent 21 years of my life serving or the mainstream firearm owners I have been a part of most of my life.
Whether one or two flip on the third, the full force of the UCMJ should be shown to all of them. By illegal transfers of firearms, they share responsibility for the results. At least one person was murdered, they should be charged as accessories to murder. Each firearm they illegally transfered should be a separate count to increase the length of their stay at Ft Leavenworth.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, May 12, 21 @ 7:49 pm:
Can anyone relate this result to the “surge” of gun related law enforcement expertise the former president sent to Chicago. I don’t like the former press, but I would have to tip a hat to him.