A man from Indiana received a federal prison sentence this week after he was found guilty of trafficking 15 guns from Indianapolis to the Chicago area in 2022. The incident highlights the ongoing issue of gun trafficking across state lines in the United States.
Earlier this year, Devante T. Brown, a 29-year-old resident of Indianapolis, admitted to a federal firearm charge and pleaded guilty.
Federal prosecutors have accused Brown and his co-defendant, Corey Sartin, of transporting firearms from Indianapolis to the Chicago area during the spring and summer of 2022. It is alleged that they subsequently sold the guns to undercover law enforcement officers on three separate occasions.
-
- On April 9, 2022, Sartin sold a handgun to undercover officers in Lynwood, Illinois.
- On May 31, 2022, Brown and Sartin sold four handguns and AR-style rifles with extended magazines to undercover officers in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood.
- On June 24, 2022, Brown and Sartin sold four semiautomatic handguns, four semiautomatic rifles and two privately made “ghost guns” to undercover officers in Calumet City, Ill. “Ghost guns” are firearms that contain no identifiable serial number and were manufactured from parts collected from various sources.
In a text message to the undercover officers before one of the deals, Brown confidently stated, “I come across guns all day long. We’re going to do good business together.”
A sentence of 10 years in prison was handed down to Brown by a judge on Tuesday.
Sartin admitted to a firearm offense and received a prison sentence of two and a half years.
