ATLANTA — Four Georgia men were sentenced for their roles in an international gun trafficking scheme, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The four Georgia men entered a guilty plea to several charges that implicated them in a plan to move a total of 160 handguns, some of which ended up in Canada.
Investigators said a 21-year-old man from Lithonia was solely responsible for buying the guns and sawing off their serial numbers.
Federal agents believe the he would send two others to buy guns from licensed dealers in Atlanta before bringing to him.
Once the numbers were scrapped off, the guns would then be resold to “convicted criminals” who couldn’t purchase them legally, according to the release. Agents learned of the scheme after 20 guns were used in crimes committed in Canada.
The sawed-off serial numbers were restored by investigators, which led them back to Atlanta. Federal agents gathered more evidence, pointing them to the four men.
In 2022, federal agents said they spotted the Lithonia man and his 23-year-old accomplice from Ellenwood at a shop for handguns in Cobb County.
Agents also said they watched the two loaded guns, drugs and a scale into the 23-year-old's van. They were armed, according to the release.
The 21-year-old from Lithonia was sentenced to 10 years in prison for pleading guilty to:
- Conspiracy to make false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer
- Aiding and abetting false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old from Decatur and the man from Ellenwood pled guilty to conspiracy to make false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer. The 23-year-old received four years, and nine months in prison, while the other was sentenced to three years and one month in prison.
The fourth man was from Conley and wasn’t heavily involved in the scheme, but he was on probation for unrelated gun and drug crimes when investigators surveilled the group. He was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison for:
- Receipt of a firearm by a person under indictment
- Carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime
All four men will serve probation once they are released from prison, according to the release.
