HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Tykeam Markel Jackson, age 27, was sentenced on April 18, 2023, to 102 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner, for multiple firearms offenses related to his trafficking of over 60 firearms from Central Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, between March 25 and July 26, 2020, Jackson orchestrated a scheme to obtain firearms using straw parties to purchase firearms from Cumberland, Dauphin, and Lancaster-area licensed firearms dealers. In exchange for cash from Jackson, the straw purchasers fraudulently certified to dealers that they were buying firearms for themselves, when in truth they were buying firearms for Jackson, who was a felon at the time and prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms. Jackson then obliterated the serial numbers and transported the firearms to Massachusetts for resale.
The straw purchasing scheme led by Jackson purchased or attempted to purchase 61 firearms before ATF agents ended the operation by arresting Jackson in Massachusetts. While attempting to evade arrest, Jackson assaulted a deputized federal law enforcement officer, fled in his vehicle at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, and ditched a backpack containing cash, ammunition, a ghost gun, and 4 firearms with obliterated serial numbers, including 3 firearms recently purchased in Central Pennsylvania.
Jackson’s co-conspirators, Jamia Philecia Holton and Shadaya Nakeyma Jackson pleaded guilty to felonies for their roles as straw purchasers of firearms for Jackson and were sentenced to terms of probation. Jackson was separately charged, convicted, and sentenced to 77 months’ imprisonment for his assault of the officer in Massachusetts in connection with his arrest on July 27, 2020.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel S. Dalke prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
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