Joshua Meighen, Firearms Trafficking, New York 2023

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Joshua Meighen, a 30-year-old man from Seneca, South Carolina, has been sentenced to serve 72-months (six years) in federal prison for providing a firearm and ammunition to a convicted felon, and illegally transferring a firearm to an out of state resident, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

In addition to his six-year prison sentence, Meighen was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release after he is released from custody.

Meighen, a former resident of New York State, has five previous felony convictions. As part of his previous guilty plea, Joshua Meighen admitted that while he was living in South Carolina he contacted a Central New York resident who was known to Meighen as a convicted felon and arranged for a sale through the U.S. mails of a Taurus 9mm caliber semiautomatic pistol and 25 rounds of ammunition for $980.00.

Meighen mailed the pistol and ammunition from South Carolina to Central New York, where it was recovered at a post office facility in Syracuse on October 14, 2021. After further investigation, ATF Special Agents executed a federal court search warrant at Meighen’s home in Seneca, South Carolina. He was arrested and returned to the Northern District of New York (Syracuse) for prosecution.

In pleading guilty, Meighen also admitted that he mailed a Phoenix Arms .22 caliber pistol and a Stoeger 9mm caliber pistol from South Carolina to a second New York felon in Binghamton, New York. Both firearms were seized on November 10, 2021, by the United States Postal Inspection Service through the execution of a federal search warrant.

This case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force, and the Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard R. Southwick.

Meighen’s six-year prison sentence is a significant victory in our efforts to combat firearms trafficking and keep our communities safe. We will continue to work tirelessly to investigate and prosecute those who engage in this illegal activity.

Related Federal Cases