Two Youngstown men with violent pasts are back in federal crosshairs, charged with illegally possessing firearms months after their prior convictions barred them from owning a single bullet. Joseph Crockett, 30, and Ricky D. Williams, 25, were each hit with federal indictments for being felons in possession of a firearm and ammunition—charges that expose the raw nerve of repeat gun offenders slipping through the cracks.
Crockett allegedly possessed a Walther PPX, 9mm caliber pistol and associated ammunition on November 21, 2016. His record shows a 2008 conviction for distribution of crack cocaine in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio—stripping him of any legal right to bear arms. The weapon, loaded and ready, was recovered in a law enforcement sweep that flagged his known criminal history.
Just days later, on December 1, 2016, Ricky D. Williams was caught with a Taurus Millennium Pro, 9mm pistol and ammunition. Williams had served time after a 2011 robbery conviction in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania’s Common Pleas Court. That felony record made every second he held that firearm a federal crime.
A third man, Robert Shepper, 32, of Mogadore, faces a separate but equally serious charge: possession of an unregistered short-barreled firearm. On May 17, 2016, Shepper possessed an Armalite Inc., Model M15, 5.56 mm rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches—deadly, concealable, and unregistered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, a direct violation of federal law.
All three cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer. The investigations into Crockett and Williams stemmed from joint operations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Youngstown Police Department. Shepper’s case was cracked open by ATF and Ohio State Highway Patrol agents working in tandem—showing the widening net cast over illicit weapons trafficking.
An indictment is not a conviction. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. If found guilty, sentencing will weigh factors including criminal history, role in the offense, and severity of the violations. Statutory maximums apply, but actual sentences may be lower. The cases remain active as the federal machinery turns.
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