A Cleveland woman was sentenced to three months in prison for making a straw purchase of two firearms that were purchased with money from a robbery and used in additional violent crimes.
Tyla Spencer, 22, was sentenced to three months in prison after previously pleading guilty to making false or fictitious statements to purchase firearms.
Spencer went on Jan. 2, 2018, to the Cleveland Armory in Valley View with Lashawn Davis and a juvenile. Spencer bought them a Glock 9 mm and Glock.40-caliber handgun with cash that Davis and the juvenile got from robbing a check-cashing store in Cleveland the day before, according to court documents.
Spencer falsely stated she was the true buyer of the firearms when, in fact, she was purchasing the firearms on behalf of the males. Davis and the juvenile then used the firearms in a bank robbery and carjacking in February, according to court documents and statements in court.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Zarzycki following an investigation by the FBI, the Cleveland Division of Police and the Valley View Police Department.
This case are part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The program was reinvigorated 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
