Brian Samuels, Selling Firearms, Virginia 2019

A Richmond man was sentenced to five years in prison for selling firearms to a resident of another state, federal authorities announced.

Brian Samuels, 21, sold 39 firearms to an undercover agent over the course of approximately four months in 2018. Prior to making controlled purchases of the firearms from Samuels, law enforcement learned that Samuels was searching for a new buyer for his firearms after his original buyer was arrested.

As a result, law enforcement introduced an undercover agent to make purchases from Samuels from August through January 2019. Over the course of those four months, Samuels recruited straw purchasers to acquire firearms he would sell to the undercover agent.

He also would seek assistance from others to help complete the sales to the undercover agent by delivering the firearms. These firearms included multiple AK pistols, AR pistols, extended magazines with 30-60 round capacities, and stolen firearms.

In February, ATF and other assisting law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at Samuels’s home and located an additional 14 firearms, bringing the total to 53. As a part of the criminal sentencing, Samuels forfeited all 53 firearms to the United States.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the government's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/man-sentenced-prison-selling-firearms