Man gets 7 years for stolen gun crime spree

One of two Cleveland brothers who sledgehammered a Jefferson County gun dealership and made off with 16 weapons, including two assault-style rifles that have yet to be located, is headed to federal prison for more than seven years.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab imposed a term of 87 months Tuesday on Rayshawn Patterson, less than the 100 months the government requested but more than the defense wanted.

Patterson, 21, and his brother, Reginald Patterson, unleashed a wave of crime in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 2017 and 2018 that included burglary, a carjacking, robberies and “flooding the streets with stolen firearms,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Lanni said in sentencing papers.

Rayshawn pleaded guilty in September to crimes in Pennsylvania and accepted responsibility for another robbery in Cleveland.

Reginald went to trial in October and lost after one day of testimony.

The pair and an accomplice drove from Cleveland to Western Pennsylvania in December 2017 to commit their crimes.

They initially hunted for a gun store to rob but couldn’t find one, so they robbed a gas station in Clarion on Dec. 22, 2017, assaulted the clerk, and drove back to Cleveland with $300. The next day they drove back to Pennsylvania and used a sledgehammer to smash their way into DSD Sports, a gun dealer in Brookville.

They stole 16 guns in all and took them back to Ohio. Cleveland police recovered two guns on Dec. 29 near the Patterson home. A search of the home by Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents also turned up the sledgehammer and other tools used in the burglary.

The whereabouts of the rest of the weapons are of particular concern for the ATF, as the guns are almost certainly in the hands of other criminals.

“While the Patterson brothers have been forced to answer for their crimes, the legacy of their crime wave is not over,” Mr. Lanni said. “Fourteen firearms stolen from DSD Sports remain missing and unaccounted for. These include two AR-15 style assault rifles.”

Reginald Patterson is awaiting sentencing.