WASHINGTON - Quran Jeter, 20, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a federal charge stemming from his role in a conspiracy to purchase firearms through a straw purchaser in the Atlanta, Ga. region and bring them to the District of Columbia for illegal resale.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Thomas L. Chittum III, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Jeter pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiring to illegally traffic in firearms. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. The Honorable Randolph D. Moss scheduled sentencing for March 7, 2019.
The guilty plea followed an investigation by ATF, MPD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office into a rash of firearm recoveries in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas in late 2016 and early 2017, all tied to a single straw purchaser in the Atlanta region. To date, approximately 25 firearms have been recovered in the District of Columbia or Maryland that, according to the government’s evidence, were purchased by this straw purchaser and illegally trafficked into the area by members of this conspiracy.
As alleged in court documents, beginning in or around August 2016 and continuing through mid-January 2017, Jeter conspired with others to illegally deal in firearms, travel in interstate commerce to acquire firearms for resale, and make false statements on firearm purchase forms, among other offenses.
Two co-defendants, are scheduled for trial before Judge Moss in January 2019. They are Jeremy Carr, 34, of Marietta, Ga., and Jeter’s cousin, Stephon Jeter, 28, also of Washington, D.C. Both have pled not guilty to the charges.
As alleged in court documents, Quran Jeter and Stephon Jeter traveled multiple times from the District of Columbia to Atlanta with cash in order to purchase various firearms from Carr. Carr allegedly acted as a straw purchaser for the Jeters, providing them with firearms upon request. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Quran Jeter agreed that he was accountable for trafficking between eight and 24 firearms during the course of the conspiracy.
Quaran Jeter was arrested on Nov. 21, 2016, in the District of Columbia with a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm firearm. According to the government’s evidence, he obtained this firearm from Carr in Atlanta approximately one month before his arrest.
This case is being investigated by ATF, MPD, and a former Criminal Investigator of the U.S. Attorney’s Office now with the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
