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Safety & Security

ATF National Response Team Joins Chicago Fire Department in Fire Investigation

News Release: CHICAGO - The Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives requested ATF’s National Response Team join the investigation into a fire that occurred Tuesday early morning that claimed the life of a Chicago Firefighter and where two others sustained nonlife threatening injuries at 12015 South Wallace in Chicago’s West Pullman neighborhood.


Safety & Security

Alleged Firearm Traffickers Arrested in ATF Bust

News Release: Three men accused of selling guns illegally were arrested in an ATF takedown on Wednesday, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.


Safety & Security

Zephyrhills Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Making a Destructive Device

News Release: Tampa, FL - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that James John Hall (34, Zephyrhills) has pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully making a firearm (destructive device). Hall faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Hall has also agreed to forfeit the destructive device, which includes a pipe, Tannerite, pyrotechnic powder, and pyrotechnic fuse.


Safety & Security

Gary Man Sentenced to 2 Consecutive Terms of Life in Prison

News Release: HAMMOND- Hailey Gist-Holden, age 28, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philp P. Simon after a jury found him guilty of armed bank robbery, and using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during that bank robbery. The jury specifically found that, as part ...


Safety & Security

Brooksville Man Found Guilty of Possessing Firearm as an Armed Career Criminal

News Release: Ocala, Florida - Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon II has found Wayne Allen Phillips, Jr. (45, Brooksville) guilty of one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a previously convicted felon. Phillips qualifies for an increased penalty under the Armed Career Criminal Act. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 20, 2023. Phillips had been indicted on March 29, 2022.


Safety & Security

Stevens Point Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Unlawful Possession of Firearm

News Release: MADISON, WIS. - Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Lorenzo Miner, 30, Stevens Point, Wisconsin was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to six years in federal prison for possessing a firearm after previously being convicted of a felony. Miner pleaded guilty to this charge on Nov. 21, 2022.


Safety & Security

West Hartford Man Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Prison for Fentanyl Distribution and Gun Possession Offenses

News Release: Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JAYVIAN RODRIGUEZ, 25, of West Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 126 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for fentanyl distribution and firearm possession offenses.


Safety & Security

Grand Jury Returns Two Indictments

News Release: MADISON, WIS. - A federal grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin, sitting in Madison, returned the following indictments today. You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.


Safety & Security

Mandeville Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun Charge

News Release: NEW ORLEANS, LA - MAURICE BUTLER, age 35, of Mandeville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty on April 4, 2023 to a single count indictment charging him with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, in violation of the Federal Gun Control Act, Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) announced United States Attorney Duane A. Evans.


Safety & Security

Jefferson County Man Admits Possessing Pipe Bombs, Methamphetamine

News Release: ST. LOUIS - A man from Jefferson County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted possessing two pipe bombs and methamphetamine.


Safety & Security

Box Elder Man Admits Meth Trafficking, Firearm Crimes on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation

News Release: GREAT FALLS - A Box Elder man accused of trafficking drugs on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation after law enforcement found a pound of methamphetamine and eight firearms in his truck admitted to charges today, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.


Safety & Security

Convicted Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 30 Years for Trafficking Nearly 150 Pounds of Drugs, Including Heroin, Fentanyl, and Marijuana

News Release: WASHINGTON - Linwood Douglas Thorne, 51, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a large-scale drug trafficking conspiracy that resulted in one of the largest seizures of heroin in the District of Columbia’s history. The sentence, handed down March 31, 2023, by U.S. District ...


Safety & Security

Middle Georgia Meth Trafficking Leader Sentenced to 35 Years Imprisonment

News Release: MACON, Ga. - The leader of an armed drug trafficking organization responsible for distributing approximately 16 kilograms of methamphetamine into Middle Georgia was sentenced to 35 years in prison.


Safety & Security

Sauk Rapids Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Unlicensed Manufacturing, Selling Ghost Guns

News Release: ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Sauk Rapids man has been sentenced to the statutory maximum 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for unlicensed manufacturing and selling ghost guns, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.


Safety & Security

Clinton Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm

News Release: Jackson, Miss. - A Clinton man was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Kurt Thielhorn of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).


Safety & Security

Frederick County Sheriff and Gun Dealer Indicted for Scheme To Illegally Acquire Machineguns

News Release: Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Charles Austin Jenkins, age 66, of Thurmont, Maryland, and Robert Justin Krop, age 36, of Frederick, Maryland, with conspiracy and false statements in order to acquire machineguns. Krop is also charged with illegal possession of machineguns. No court appearance is scheduled for the defendants at this time.


Safety & Security

Two Las Vegas Felons Sentenced to Prison for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

News Release: LAS VEGAS - Two convicted felons and Las Vegas residents were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey for unlawful possession of firearms and for their roles in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. Nicholas Eddards was sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Justin Chester was sentenced to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.


Safety & Security

Great Falls Felon Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison for Possessing Firearm

News Release: BILLINGS - A Great Falls man with a felony conviction was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.


Safety & Security

Danville, Illinois, Man Charged With Carjacking Resulting in Death and Murder

News Release: URBANA, Ill. - A grand jury today returned a superseding indictment charging Kevin Marshall, 32, of Danville, Illinois, with allegedly carjacking and murdering Daniel Walter, a 28-year-old man from Williamsport, Indiana, on or about April 25, 2020. The superseding indictment also charges Marshall with ...


Safety & Security

East Hartford Man Admits Role in Catalytic Converter Theft Ring

News Release: Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that BRYANT BERMUDEZ, 31, of East Hartford, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to offenses related to his participation in a stolen catalytic converter trafficking ring.