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Madison Gun Runner Baker Gets 2 Years in Federal Prison
MADISON, WI – Deovion Baker, 20, of Madison, Wisconsin, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced to two years for orchestrating a gun straw purchase scheme and illegally receiving a firearm while already facing federal charges. Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson handed down the sentence today, followed by three years of supervised release. Baker pleaded guilty to the charges on November 21, 2024, and May 1, 2025.
The case centers around Baker’s direction of Candice Patterson, who illegally purchased two Glock handguns for him on September 1, 2023. This “straw purchasing” – lying to a firearms dealer to obtain guns for someone prohibited or wishing to conceal their involvement – is a direct pipeline for weapons into the hands of criminals. One of those Glocks turned up on January 6, 2024, in Madison, in the possession of a convicted felon, and was rigged with a dangerous machinegun conversion device. The other landed in the hands of another convicted felon in Springfield, Illinois, just four days later.
Adding insult to injury, while already under indictment for the initial straw purchase, Baker took delivery of another Glock 23 .40 caliber handgun on an unknown date. Receiving a firearm while under indictment is a separate federal violation. Law enforcement officers recovered that gun during a traffic stop in Madison on November 17, 2024. But the firearms weren’t the full extent of Baker’s illicit activity. Federal agents discovered Baker had been importing illegal machinegun conversion devices from China, seizing suspicious packages in July and August 2023. An analysis revealed Baker had received a total of 19 similar packages.
These aren’t simple add-ons; machinegun conversion devices transform semi-automatic handguns into fully automatic weapons, drastically increasing their lethality and making them incredibly difficult to control. A converted handgun can unleash 50 rounds in just four seconds. Acting U.S. Attorney Chadwick M. Elgersma minced no words, stating, “Straw purchases undermine our efforts to keep firearms out of the hands of those legally prohibited from possessing them…Weapons in the hands of those prohibited from possessing them are a direct threat to the public. This is particularly true when those weapons are converted into machineguns.”
Judge Peterson rejected Baker’s plea for probation, citing the severity of the crimes and Baker’s continued lawbreaking even after entering a plea agreement. The judge determined Baker likely posed an ongoing threat to public safety. Patterson, 20, pleaded guilty on September 27, 2024, to making false statements on federal firearms forms and received three years of probation on January 17, 2025. The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Madison Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force.
This case underscores the relentless flow of illegal firearms and the ongoing battle to keep guns out of the hands of those who would do harm. The ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force, comprised of federal agents and local task force officers, continues to pursue these cases aggressively. Assistant U.S. Attorney [Name Redacted for Privacy] prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Wisconsin
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons|Violent Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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