Estelle Cook Jr., 28, of Pickens, ripped a hole in the side of Central Mississippi Firearms in Kosciusko at 2:30 a.m. on July 28, 2014, and stole 41 guns in a brazen heist that flooded illegal firearms into Durant and Lexington, Mississippi. The burglary was not a smash-and-grab—it was a calculated raid, executed with precision, and Cook wasn’t working alone.
Alongside co-defendant Corey Hughes, Cook turned the stolen arsenal into street cash. At least a dozen of the firearms were sold off the books, with Cook personally orchestrating the sale of ten guns to seven different buyers from a home in Durant. Each sale netted him $100 in cold cash—money earned by arming criminals while dodging law enforcement.
The operation unraveled over time. On October 3, 2017, a federal grand jury indicted Cook, Hughes, Darnell Branch, and Frederick Russell for their roles in the conspiracy to possess and sell stolen firearms. Frederick Russell folded first, pleading guilty on January 10, 2018, and now awaits sentencing on March 29, 2018, before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves.
Hughes is set to enter his own guilty plea on February 13, 2018, on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Darnell Branch, the last remaining defendant to face trial, is scheduled to stand before Judge Reeves on March 5, 2018. The noose is tightening around all who took part in the gun ring.
Cook, now convicted, will be sentenced by Judge Reeves on May 15, 2018, in Jackson. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. His guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm marks the fall of a man who thought he could profit from stolen guns and vanish into the shadows.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Case. Federal authorities remind the public that an indictment is merely a charge—though in Cook’s case, the guilty plea speaks louder than any accusation ever could.
Related Federal Cases
- Holmes County Man Stole 41 Guns in Kosciusko Heist · Mississippi
- Illegal Alien Nabbed with Stolen Guns · Mississippi
- Mississippi Students Pledge Against Gun Violence in DOJ Drive · Mississippi
- Naylor Gets a Decade for Illegal Guns · Mississippi
- Guns Stolen from Pawn Shop · Mississippi
Key Facts
- State: Mississippi
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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