ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Woodbridge man was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for conspiring to illegally straw purchase 17 firearms.
According to court documents, Corey Randolph Harris, Jr., 27, conspired with an unnamed co-conspirator to knowingly make false statements with respect to the purchase of firearms. Between April 2019 and July 2019, Harris straw purchased 17 firearms in eight separate transactions, all from federal firearms licensees in the Eastern District of Virginia. In each transaction, Harris represented himself as the true buyer of the firearms when, in fact, he was purchasing them on behalf of the unnamed co-conspirator and selling them to the unnamed co-conspirator for a profit. The Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. recovered two of the firearms from individuals other than Harris and the unnamed co-conspirator.
This case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Natasha Smalky is prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-212.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
