A registered sex offender from St. Louis County has admitted to selling firearms illegally on five separate occasions to an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Antoine Maurice Gant, 39, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, Gant sold a 9mm handgun for $400 to an ATF agent in a St. Louis alley on May 24, 2024. A week later, he sold two additional handguns to the same agent. On June 14, 2024, he sold two more handguns along with $140 worth of cocaine. On June 27, 2024, Gant sold an AK-47-style rifle in East St. Louis and later that day sold a .40-caliber pistol, an AR-style pistol, and a 12-gauge shotgun outside a laundromat in St. Louis.
Gant is prohibited from possessing firearms due to previous felony convictions. He was convicted of statutory rape in 2012 and sentenced to seven years in prison. In 2018, he received a four-year sentence for second-degree assault.
Sentencing is set for March 4, 2026. Each count carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment and/or a fine up to $250,000.
The ATF led the investigation into this case while Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen is handling prosecution.
"This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood," according to information provided by authorities.
