BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)), published as received.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal judge today sentenced a Birmingham man for unlawful dealing of firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Mickey French.
U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor sentenced Jecorey Tyshawn Edwards Allen, 26, to 21 months in prison followed by three years supervised release on one count of dealing in firearms without a license, one count of traveling interstate to acquire firearms for the purpose of dealing without a license, and seven counts of falsifying information on firearm acquisition records. Allen pleaded guilty to the charges in April.
“One of the most common ways criminals get guns is through straw purchase sales, where someone who may not legally acquire a firearm has another person buy it on their behalf,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “It is a priority of my office to stop the illegal flow of firearms used to commit violent crime in our cities.”
“ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence partnerships is effective in reducing the potential for violent firearms related crimes,” Special Agent in Charge Mickey French stated. “The illegal purchase and transfer of firearms negatively impacts our communities across the country.”
According to court documents, from November 2018 through July of 2019, Allen traveled from the Washington, D.C. area to Birmingham, and purchased at least 19 pistols from several licensed Birmingham firearm dealers. Allen falsified the ATF form 4473, Firearms Transaction Record, specifically stating that he was the actual buyer when in fact he was buying the firearms for other people. Allen then traveled back to the D.C. area, where he sold the illegally purchased guns. One of the guns purchased by Allen in Birmingham in February 2019, was used in a shooting in Washington, D.C. four months later.
The ATF investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Cross prosecuted.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
