Cincinnati man, Zephaniah Jones, 21, has been sentenced to 79 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy involving 56 firearms purchased online with stolen credit cards.
Jones was found guilty of conspiring to make false statements on federal firearms forms, committing aggravated identity theft, and making false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
According to court documents, Jones and his coconspirators used stolen credit card information to place online orders for firearms with Guns.com and other online retailers for delivery to Cincinnati between April and July 2022.
The firearms were shipped to a local federal firearms licensee (FFL), where Jones’s coconspirators lied on ATF Form 4473, a form required when purchasing a firearm from an FFL, by pretending to be the actual buyer of the firearms.
In total, Jones and his coconspirators completed online orders for 56 firearms and succeeded in obtaining at least 37. Some of the firearms involved in the conspiracy were linked to crimes within a short period of time, including a pistol that was used to shoot into an occupied residence in Columbus just 15 days after purchase.
Jones was also charged with obtaining a fraudulent COVID-relief loan for nearly $21,000 in February 2020 by falsely claiming that he owned a business called Jones Lawncare LLC.
Jones was ordered to pay $20,643 in restitution to the SBA and will have to determine the amount of restitution to be paid to the FFLs whose firearms were stolen at a later hearing.
Jones pleaded guilty in January 2024 and five other coconspirators in the straw-purchasing conspiracy have been charged federally.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Weapons|Violent Crime|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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