Six Indicted in Alleged Straw Purchasing Scheme Using Stolen Credit Info in Ohio and Georgia

A federal grand jury has indicted a group of six people on allegations of conspiring to illegally buy firearms using credit card information that was stolen. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the defendants are charged with participating in a straw purchase conspiracy that reportedly involves falsifying information on federal firearms forms.

Orders with online gun dealers using credit card information that was stolen seem to have been part of the conspiracy, which the indictment claims occurred between May and September 2022. These orders were then purportedly moved to different cities in Georgia and Ohio for pickup. It is thought that the defendants planned to swiftly sell a large number of the firearms that they had acquired by these dishonest methods.

Ellyson Jeffries, 23, of Reynoldsburg; Javohn Garcia, 23, of Reynoldsburg; D andre Beasley, 31, of Columbus; Johna McCoy, 27, of Atlanta; Vincent Irvin, 33, of Columbus; and Keith Davenport III, 21, of Columbus are among those named in the indictment. All six defendants have been taken into custody since the case was unsealed on November 15, according to the indictment that the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio issued on October 30. Additional allegations of aggravated identity theft have been brought against Davenport.

Potential punishments include a maximum sentence of five years in jail for collaborating to make false claims when buying a firearm. Such false claims are punishable by up to 10 years in jail as a federal offense. Additionally, there is a required two-year prison sentence for aggravated identity theft. The seriousness of identity theft and the likelihood that these weapons might spread swiftly through unlawful routes exacerbate the case, which involves at least 50 illegally obtained firearms.

The charges were announced by Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant, ATF Special Agent in Charge Daryl S. McCormick, and U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker.The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Damoun Delaviz and S. Courter Shimeall. The U.S. Department of Justice states that an indictment is only an accusation and that all defendants are presumed innocent until and until they are found guilty in a court of law.

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