Mark Winston Pickrell, Dealing Firearms without License, Georgia 2018

AUGUSTA, GA – In a brazen display of disregard for federal law, five men have been sentenced to prison time for their roles in a conspiracy to illegally possess and sell unregistered firearms in the Augusta area.

Mark Winston Pickrell, 56 months in prison, and Aubrey Dean Bullard, 33 months, were among those sentenced by the Honorable Chief Judge J. Randal Hall, United States District Court, on March 12, 2018.

Pickrell and Bullard were two of five defendants indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2017 on an eighteen-count indictment charging controlled substance and firearms violations.

According to their plea agreements, Pickrell admitted to engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license between March 2, 2016, and May 10, 2016, while Bullard admitted to unlawfully possessing and transferring two Sten 9 mm machine guns.

The investigation, which was a joint effort between the ATF, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, North Augusta Department of Public Safety, Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, Aiken Department of Public Safety, Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, served as a textbook example of the success that can be achieved when law enforcement agencies work together to address crimes that plague their communities.

U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine commended the hard work and dedication of the agencies involved, stating, “The United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Georgia is committed to aggressively prosecuting violations of gun laws currently on the books.”

Danny Lee Thomas, Ralph Guemell Poole, and Christopher Earl Duckworth were also sentenced to prison time – 38, 120, and 188 months, respectively – for their roles in the conspiracy and related controlled substance violations.

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