ATF agents have arrested five people on a 13-count federal indictment alleging a gun-running scheme that moved dozens of firearms from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., and the National Capital Region, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Four defendants were arrested in Maryland and one in Raleigh, North Carolina, after a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned the indictment on October 14.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Prosecutors allege the co-conspirators supplied upwards of approximately 40 firearms to individuals across multiple states, including Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Saint Georges, Grenada. The charges include conspiracy to traffic firearms, firearms trafficking, and making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro described the alleged operation at an Oct. 21 press conference as a “conveyer belt of weapons feeding violence up the east coast,” according to USNN's reporting of the announcement.

Source: USNN

“Gun-running networks do not respect state lines, and neither does our determination to stop them,” U.S. Attorney Pirro said in the Justice Department statement. U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle, for the Eastern District of North Carolina, warned people making sham purchases to run guns in eastern North Carolina that they would be found and prosecuted. The arrests on October 20 were carried out with the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, and the ATF is investigating the case.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 15 years in federal prison for the conspiracy and trafficking offences and 10 years for false-statement offences, the Justice Department said. Any sentence would be set by a federal judge after considering sentencing guidelines and other factors.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice