59 arrested in separate illegal gun-trafficking rings
Federal authorities arrested nearly 60 people in recent days in a blitz to disrupt illegal gun dealing in Cleveland as the city reels from a historic spike in gun violence and a dwindling number of police officers.
U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Steve Dettelbach said during a news conference on Tuesday that agents seized 240 guns during the three-month operation. Forty-six of those guns were used in 102 shootings and 11 homicides.
“These are very dangerous people we’re talking about here,” said Dettelbach, a former U.S. attorney in Cleveland.
The operation comes as when Cleveland is on pace for more homicides than any year since 1982, when 192 people were killed. Through mid-August, the city logged 117 homicides.
At the same time, the number of Cleveland police officers has dwindled from about 1,600 in 2019 to 1,226 as of last week.
The ATF round-up also came during the same time Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the state patrol, Ohio Adult Parole Authority and other state law enforcement to help Cleveland stem the growing number of shootings and killings. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb this summer also launched a multipronged approach using technology and increased social services to stem the recent crime wave.
Bibb on Tuesday praised the ATF blitz.
“Cleveland is a safer city today because of this operation,” he said.
Dettelbach said his agents arrested 59 people accused of illegally selling guns. The ATF analyzed crime data from Cleveland and used that to target Cleveland’s southeast side and northeastern Cuyahoga County suburbs, where gun violence has spiked.
Undercover agents seized weapons, and investigators used technology to trace them to other crimes. Dettelbach said one gun was used in 14 shootings.
He said the push is somewhat of a precursor to a planned crime-gun intelligence center headed by the ATF in Cleveland. The center is expected to house federal agents, police officers, data analysts and federal prosecutors under one roof with the goal of using data to drive investigations into gun dealers and violent criminals.
Dettelbach said the center is still in the works, but he expects it to open in months rather than years.
Interim U.S. Attorney Becky Lutzko said the 59 people were charged in federal court in Cleveland in 19 separate cases. The allegations include conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing firearms without a license and engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license.
Of the guns seized, 17 were ghost guns without serial numbers made via kits or with 3D printers. Also, agents nabbed 28 “Glock switches,” devices that can make handguns fire like automatic guns. Many of the gun dealers sold to agents in public, including parking lots at Steelyard Commons and other businesses and the Cleveland Metroparks’ East 72nd Street Fishing Area, court records say.
Lutzko said the cases are mostly unrelated but similar in one regard: “They all contributed to the violence and lawlessness that illegal gun and narcotics trafficking brings to our community.”
“Make no mistake, this law enforcement effort has disrupted ongoing criminal activity and removed several criminal actors driving violent crime from Cleveland’s streets,” Lutzko said. “It has undoubtedly disrupted or prevented future violent crimes from playing out in court community.”
The guns were used in shootings in Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and Euclid, among others, according to court records.
In one case, one of the accused gun dealers, Nicholas Johnson, told undercover ATF agents: “I don’t give a f—k if y’all go kill a bunch of people, I just need to clear my a--,” according to court records.
Johnson, 33, and Devaunty Lewis, 31, both of Cleveland, are accused of selling 10 guns to undercover agents for $8,000 between July 25 and Aug. 8. One gun they sold was used in three shootings in Cleveland, including an attack that injured someone, records indicate.
In another case, prosecutors alleged that seven men sold 50 guns for $48,000 to undercover agents from July 24 to Aug. 2. Several of the guns were stolen, and some were previously used in shootings, including the Oct. 25 slaying of Robert Mason, 25, outside a convenience store in the city’s Kinsman neighborhood, court filings show.
That group — led by Maurice Sterrett, 39, of Cleveland — also used a juvenile to carry out several of the gun buys, according to court records.
Another group of seven people — led by Malachi Berry, 21 of Cleveland — sold 36 guns to undercover agents, including seven machine guns, in a two-month span, authorities allege.
A separate case involved the arrest of four men: Alante Heard, 33, Antonio Sweeney, 24, Markus Williams, 33, all of Cleveland, and Maurice Commons, 22, of North Randall. They are accused of conspiring to rob a cocaine stash house at gunpoint. ATF agents thwarted the robbery before it happened, Lutzko said.
Others arrested during the operation include a former Garfield Heights High School and University of Toledo basketball player, Willie E. Jackson, and Darion Shelton, who is accused of selling 16 guns and seven Glock switches to undercover agents.
“We’re here to make sure we protect and respect the rights of peaceful, law-abiding Clevelanders to live in peace free from harm without having to worry about a hail of gunfire when they’re going to a movie, to church, to a park, to a rock concert or just being out for the first nice day of summer,” Dettelbach said.