A man from California has been sentenced in a Portland, Maine court for illegal firearm possession. Lonnel Diggs, also known by aliases Cash and Cashiiso Runzitup, received a nine-year prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen after Diggs pleaded guilty in August 2024.
Court records reveal that in March 2022, Diggs, hailing from Van Nuys, California, along with an accomplice, approached a couple who had previously bought crack cocaine from him. They proposed that the couple purchase firearms on their behalf in exchange for cash and drugs. The couple agreed to the arrangement and traveled to various gun shows and stores across Maine to make these straw purchases. During one of these events, Diggs photographed firearms and sent the images to the couple, who then completed the purchases and delivered the weapons to him.
Diggs' criminal history includes a robbery conviction in California in 2003 and an assault with a dangerous weapon on a peace officer in 2010. These convictions legally prevent him from possessing firearms.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Lewiston Police Department.
Straw purchasing is defined as an illegal firearm purchase where someone unable or unwilling to pass federal background checks uses another person who can pass such checks to buy firearms on their behalf.
