Illegal Firearms Indictments in Northern Ohio Reach 6-Year High

Federal authorities in northern Ohio filed more than 200 illegal firearms indictments last year in their efforts to get guns out of the hands of criminals.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio filed 218 illegal firearms indictments last year as part of Project Safe Neighborhood, U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach said.

“This office places a high priority on keeping firearms out of the hands of those who are forbidden by law from obtaining them,” Dettelbach said.    

The Cleveland office filed the most indictments with 83, followed by 53 in Youngstown, 49 in Akron and 33 in Toledo.

There were 157 defendants sentenced last year for firearms crimes, with the average sentence slightly more than five years (61.4 months).

Details of a few cases:

United States v. Edmund Robinson

 Edmund Robinson was sentenced to five years in prison in November after previously being found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Robinson got into an argument with another person in the parking lot of the Franklin Park Mall in Toledo on Jan. 4, 2011. As the other man walked into the mall, Robinson fired three shots into the man’s car. He was later arrested and found with a .38-caliber revolver, despite a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.

Operation Southland

 Twelve people were indicted on illegal firearms charges as part of a broader undercover storefront sting operation in Mansfield.

The storefront targeted convicted felons who trafficked firearms and drugs. It resulted in overall charges filed against 60 people, the seizure of more than 70 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The V-GRIP Initiative

This year’s V-GRIP (Violence, Gun Reduction Interdiction Program) program in the Mahoning Valley resulted in nearly 150 firearms seized in Youngstown, Warren and surrounding communities, as well as 12 federal indictments.

Jeremy Betts, 26, of Campbell, Ohio, was arrested on Sept. 3, 2011 after being found in possession of a sawed-off shotgun. The shotgun was hidden in a stroller that was carrying a baby, according to court documents.

Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun and gang crime in America by networking existing local programs that target gun and gun crime and providing these programs with additional tools necessary to be successful.

Since its inception in 2001, approximately $2 billion has been committed to the initiative. This funding is being used to hire new federal and state prosecutors, support investigators, provide training, distribute gun lock safety kits, deter juvenile gun crime, and develop and promote community outreach efforts as well as to support other gun and gang violence reduction strategies.

There were 117 indictments in 2002, a high of 220 in 2006 and 166 in 2010.