Cedrick Brinkley, a 31-year-old resident of Windsor Mill, Maryland, was sentenced to 130 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to traffic firearms. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox.
The announcement was made by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, along with Charles Doerrer, Special Agent in Charge at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
According to Brinkley's guilty plea, he and Steven Lee, 38, of Baltimore, sold firearms on several occasions in April 2024 to an undercover ATF agent. The agent indicated that the guns were intended for resale in New Jersey. Lee had previously received a sentence of 102 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to the same conspiracy charge.
On April 3, 2024, Brinkley met with the undercover agent and a confidential informant to sell four firearms and 50 rounds of ammunition for $4,500. Two weeks later on April 17, Brinkley and Lee met again with the undercover agent; Brinkley exchanged five pistols for $6,100.
A third transaction occurred on April 24 when Brinkley and Lee arranged another sale. Before this meeting took place, law enforcement observed them meeting in a public parking lot where Brinkley collected a black bag from Lee’s vehicle before heading to meet the undercover agent alone. During this meeting, Brinkley provided five more firearms from the bag. Price negotiations led him to call Lee on speakerphone so the agent could discuss prices directly; during this call Lee described details about one firearm that included a machinegun conversion device.
After confirming that the guns would be resold for profit, the undercover agent paid $7,800 for five firearms—including one equipped with a machinegun conversion device.
Across all three transactions, Brinkley sold a total of 14 firearms—four reported stolen—and one modified with a machine gun conversion device. He also sold 50 rounds of ammunition.
Despite being prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition due to a prior felony conviction punishable by more than one year in prison, Brinkley purchased additional ammunition on May 3 at an Essex gun shop.
On July 2 investigators executed a search warrant at his Baltimore County home where they recovered two firearms—a Glock pistol found inside a safe containing his identification documents and a KE Arms rifle located among his clothes—as well as $19,900 in cash.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative involving law enforcement agencies and community partners aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence nationwide through strategies such as building trust within communities and supporting organizations focused on violence prevention.
U.S. Attorney Hayes praised ATF's efforts during the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney James G. O’Donohue III for prosecuting the case.
More information about resources available from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office can be found at justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
