Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan | Department of Justice
Three Canadian citizens have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to smuggle and the actual smuggling of firearms from the United States into Canada. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr., who was joined by several officials including Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey.
The indictment states that Akeem Richards-Crawford, 31, and Dwayne Harrison, 34, traveled from Canada to the U.S. in October 2023. They rented a vehicle and hotel room in Detroit before traveling to Houston, Texas, and Cincinnati, Ohio to obtain firearms. They returned to Michigan with plans to smuggle the weapons into Canada.
On October 26, 2023, Richards-Crawford and Harrison drove to Algonac, Michigan with a backpack containing 36 firearms. Harrison then used a jet ski on the St. Clair River to transport the guns into Canada. Upon arrival in Canada, he mistakenly approached an unmarked police vehicle believing it was his ride. Realizing his error, he abandoned the backpack containing firearms wrapped in tube socks and fled on foot.
Canadian law enforcement recovered the backpack and arrested Jannai Stewart, 35—Harrison’s intended pickup driver—after receiving texts from Harrison stating: “Come get me” and “Cops came.”
If convicted on all counts outlined in the indictment, each defendant could face up to ten years imprisonment for each smuggling charge and five years for conspiracy.
It is important to note that an indictment is not evidence of guilt; defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation involves multiple agencies including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection among others. The prosecution team includes Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Salzenstein and Erin Ramamurthy as well as Chantelle Dial from the Department of Justice's Counterintelligence Section.
