Justice Department indicts 9 additional people in gun trafficking case involving 3 U.S. soldiers
Twelve people are facing charges for allegedly supplying scores of guns to Chicago gangs, the Department of Justice announced Friday. Among those accused of conspiring to violate federal firearms statutes are three U.S. soldiers.
Unsealed Wednesday, the 21-count superseding indictment names Blaise Smith, 29; Rahaeem Johnson 24; Bryant Larkin, 33; Corey Curtis, 26; Elijah Tillman, 24; Lazarus Greenwood, 23; Dwight Lowry, 41; Dreshion Parks, 25, all of Chicago; and Terrell Mitchell, 27, of Davenport, Iowa, all of whom are allegedly part of a Chicago street gang called the Gangster Disciples. Six are in custody, while the others are currently being sought by law enforcement.
Between December 2020 and April 2021, the defendants allegedly conspired to purchase more than 90 illegally obtained firearms, with the intent of fueling ongoing disputes between rival gangs, the DOJ said.
The announcement comes nearly a year after the Justice Department accused Fort Campbell soldiers Demarcus Adams, 21; Jarius Brunson, 22; and Brandon Miller, 22, of buying dozens of guns and selling them illegally in the Chicago streets. According to the superseding indictment, Miller was also accused of selling 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
The defendants are also accused of communicating through text messages to purchase firearms from licensed gun dealers in Tennessee and Kentucky and move them to Chicago, "providing false information on firearms purchase application forms, and using online apps to facilitate payment for the illegal transfer of firearms."
The investigation began when a shooting in Chicago in March 2021 left one person dead and several others wounded. Five of the guns used in the shooting had been purchased by Adams, Brunson and Miller in Tennessee, the DOJ said.
"Gun deaths in our country occur at a staggering pace," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday. "Every day on average, about 100 Americans are killed and hundreds more are wounded. And those numbers do not even begin to capture the number of families who are affected by this violence, or the communities terrorized by it."
The 12 defendants face several charges "including engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license; transporting and receiving firearms into another state; making false statements to a federally licensed firearm dealer; conspiring to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes and to use and carry firearms in relation to crimes of violence; and conspiring to commit money laundering, as well as other related substantive offenses," the DOJ said.
If convicted, they each could face up to 20 years in prison on one or more of the charges.
"The Justice Department will spare no resource to hold accountable criminal gun traffickers," Garland said. "There is no hiding place for those who flood our communities with illegal guns and terrorize our citizens. It does not matter where you are, or how far you travel. If you illegally traffic guns, we and our law enforcement partners nationwide, will find you."
