Indy man sentenced for illegal firearms purchases
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis man has been sentenced to federal prison for “straw purchasing firearms and illegally trafficking them through Instagram, U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Indiana says in a release made Monday.
DeAngelo Carnell, 24, was sentenced Friday to one year and one day at Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana after pleading guilty to making false statements about acquiring firearms and dealing them without a federal license.
According to court documents, over a span of 40 days from April 2021 to May 2021, Carnell purchased 19 firearms as part of a straw purchase scheme, where a person purchases firearms on behalf of someone else, frequently someone else prohibited from owning a firearm.
Carnell allegedly reported that each gun he purchased was for himself, but during an interview in June 2021 with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Carnell admitted to officers that he purchased only one firearm for himself and trafficked the other firearms using Instagram.
The release says Carnell had met with people from Chicago and Gary, Indiana at a gun store to illegally purchase those individuals’ guns. Carnell told officers that he charged a $50 fee for each illegal purchase, most of the purchases coming from people under the age of 21.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary Myers made the announcement alongside Daryl McCormick, a special agent with ATF, Columbus Field Division. Myers said this in a statement.
Illegal gun traffickers flood our streets with firearms and drive the violence plaguing too many of our neighborhoods, and saving lives requires us to stop the flow of crime guns at their source. This defendant repeatedly lied to obtain firearms and profited by putting them into the hands of people prohibited from legally purchasing them. Now he will pay for his crimes in federal prison. This prosecution demonstrates that our office will work tirelessly with the ATF to identify illegal gun traffickers and hold them accountable.
U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers
Carnell was also ordered to serve 3 years probation following his release from federal prison.
