Christian Malik White Pleads Guilty to Gun Trafficking Scheme

Alexandria, Va. — A 22-year-old Maryland man has admitted to fueling an underground gun pipeline that flooded D.C. and Maryland neighborhoods with illegally obtained firearms. Christian Malik White pleaded guilty today to making false statements during the purchase of 40 guns from federally licensed dealers in Virginia, using a fake Gainesville address to bypass background checks.

Between September 2017 and March 2019, White systematically bought weapons in Virginia and trafficked them across state lines for profit. He resold the firearms to individuals, including at least one convicted felon in Washington, D.C., who was later found in possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. White didn’t just sell guns — he instructed buyers how to erase serials, erasing the trail law enforcement relies on to track violent crime.

“The trafficking of illegally obtained firearms creates tremendous risk for violence and presents a serious danger to our communities and the law enforcement officers who keep us safe,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “We will continue our constantly expanding partnership with the ATF to use federal firearms laws to hold individuals accountable for their role in trafficking illegally purchased firearms.”

Special Agent in Charge Ashan M. Benedict of the ATF’s Washington Field Division slammed White’s actions as more than a paper crime. “Gun traffickers commit a worse crime than the illegal purchase, sale and transportation of firearms,” Benedict said. “These criminals provide a pathway for prohibited persons to obtain potentially deadly weapons for their own selfish profit and thereby put at risk the safety of all law abiding citizens and their families.”

White pleaded guilty to making false statements to acquire firearms, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 2 before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. Actual sentences in federal court are typically less than the statutory maximum, with the final term determined by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas U. Murphy II and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Olinghouse as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice’s signature violent crime reduction initiative. PSN leverages coordinated enforcement, prevention, and reentry programs to target the most violent offenders and dismantle criminal networks feeding local gun violence. Court records are available in the Eastern District of Virginia under Case No. 1:19-cr-157.