U.S. Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko | U.S. Department of Justice
Richard Seawright, a 28-year-old resident of Cleveland, has been sentenced to 33 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster handed down the sentence after Seawright pled guilty to reselling firearms without a federal license and falsifying paperwork regarding firearm purchases.
Court documents reveal that between April 17, 2018, and December 12, 2022, Seawright legally acquired over 50 firearms from federally licensed dealers across Northeast Ohio. He admitted to lying on federal firearms transaction record forms required by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). These forms are designed to ensure buyers do not intend to transfer or sell the firearms. Seawright confessed he purchased the guns with the intent to sell them to individuals prohibited from buying or owning firearms—a practice known as 'straw purchasing.'
The investigation uncovered that Seawright's purchases were resold and linked to multiple violent incidents. The ATF's National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) traced these firearms back to crimes, including a homicide.
The case was investigated by ATF-Cleveland and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Kane for the Northern District of Ohio.
