Frank McChriston, Interstate Gun Theft, Texas 2024

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — In a brazen interstate gun heist, four Texas men were sentenced this week for stealing 654 firearms from United Parcel Service trailers parked in a secure freight lot. Frank McChriston, 35, of Dallas, Texas; Derrick White, 33, of Dallas; Quinton Haywood, 27, of Glenn Heights, Texas; and Eric White, 28, of Arlington, Texas, each received federal prison time without parole after admitting their roles in the massive October 2017 theft.

U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips handed down the sentences in separate court appearances: McChriston was sentenced to seven years and eight months; Haywood to seven years and six months; and both Derrick and Eric White to seven years and three months each. The court also ordered the four men to pay $206,132 in restitution, for which they are jointly and severally liable, a sum that may prove as unreachable as the stolen guns.

The stolen arsenal — 600 Beretta .380-caliber handguns and 54 Beretta 12-gauge shotguns — was en route from Beretta USA in Maryland to Bass Pro Shops in Springfield when the theft occurred. The trailers sat parked back-to-back in the UPS freight yard, their roll-up doors facing one another and blocked by longer trailers, a setup designed to thwart exactly the kind of operation these men executed with cold precision.

Between noon on Oct. 28, 2017, and 8:30 a.m. the following day, the thieves hot-wired two truck-tractors and used them to reposition trailers, gaining access to the secured doors. They didn’t just lift cargo — they manipulated the entire layout of the lot, turning security measures into stepping stones. UPS employees discovered the breach on Oct. 29 and immediately alerted law enforcement, launching a multi-agency investigation.

All four defendants pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the theft of interstate cargo and to possessing stolen firearms. They operated as a crew, each playing a critical role in dismantling layers of logistics and security. Co-defendants Raynord Hunt, 36, and Keith Lowe, 29, both of Dallas, have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing, suggesting the network may extend beyond the dock.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher and investigated by the Springfield Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Dallas Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. With hundreds of firearms still potentially unaccounted for, law enforcement officials warn the ripple effects of this theft could surface for years in violent crimes across the Midwest and beyond.

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