Indianapolis Gun Trafficker Gets Two Years in Federal Prison
Source: (PHOTO: Thinkstock/Kanzefar Gun)
INDIANAPOLIS–A man from Indianapolis has pled guilty to making a false statement to a licensed firearms importer.
On September 2, 2022, the Department of Justice said 26-year-old Kayvonn Bailey bought a Smith and Wesson. 40 caliber pistol from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Beech Grove. The purchase was caught on store surveillance video. It showed Bailey going to the store with another person and stating on required federal firearms transaction forms that he was the actual buyer of the gun. What he was actually doing was buying the gun for someone else. He handed the gun to that person after he left the store.
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This is a gun trafficking scheme known as “straw purchasing”. That occurs when a person who is allowed to legally purchase a gun from a federally licensed dealer falsely states that they are purchasing the gun for themselves, when in fact the gun is intended for someone else.
That same Smith and Wesson that was bought that day turned up in Pennsylvania during a traffic stop on October 20, 2022.
“During the stop, the driver stated that he was not a United States citizen. Many non-citizens are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms, depending on their specific immigration status. The Pennsylvania driver told investigators Bailey was able to get him firearms, and that he went with Bailey to the gun store in Beech Grove to purchase the firearm,” said the DOJ in a Thursday afternoon news release.
The Department also says Bailey confirmed that he bought the gun for that man and also illegally straw-purchased and sold 36 firearms. In May 2023, Bailey was convicted in state court of domestic battery and intimidation using a firearm.
Bailey has been sentenced to two years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
“Unscrupulous individuals who illegally put guns in the hands of folks who have no lawful business being armed help fuel gun violence in Indiana and across the country,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Not only did this criminal illegally traffic three dozen guns into the hands of prohibited people, but he also later engaged in armed domestic violence, demonstrating the danger he poses to his partner and our community. Together, with our partners at ATF, our office will continue to make our neighborhoods safer by targeting the sources of crime guns and holding illegal gun traffickers accountable.”
Indianapolis Gun Trafficker Gets Two Years in Federal Prison was originally published on wibc.com
