Lucas FintonMemphis Commercial Appeal
More than 20 people have been federally indicted for firearm trafficking, drug possession and other gun-related offenses following an operation led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Kevin Ritz said Friday morning.
In total, there were nine different indictments that charged 21 people. The ATF led the operation that included assistance from the Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Marshals Service and Shelby County District Attorney's Office.
"We have a serious gun violence problem in Memphis and Shelby County," Ritz said. "I live in Memphis — lived in Memphis most of my life — and I know that people in this city are sick and tired of gun violence, and I am, too. This is a problem with many causes, and there will need to be many solutions. The federal government has an important role to play in tackling this problem. One way we do it is by vigorously enforcing federal firearms laws."
The months-long operation, according to ATF Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson, "relied heavily on technology," and data was used to help the ATF figure out where to focus its efforts. Ritz said the ATF looked for areas throughout Memphis and Shelby County with the highest amount of gun violence.
"This was a data-driven operation," Ritz said. "The ATF used data from various sources to identify areas with a high density of firearm-related crime. Then law enforcement moves to clamp down on illegal firearms trafficking use, and possession as well as the associated distribution of illegal drugs."
In total, 91 firearms were seized during the operation. Six of those firearms were "outfitted with illegal machine gun conversion devices, or switches, designed to convert a firearm into a fully-automatic weapon," Ritz said. In May this year, Ritz announced that his office would focus on prosecuting anyone in possession of a gun switch.
He added that officers also confiscated about two kilograms of methamphetamine, 332 grams of powder cocaine, 210 grams of powder fentanyl, about 65 grams of crack cocaine, almost 3,000 fentanyl pills and about 800 MDMA pills.
The operation also resulted in one business, the Save a Stop at Lamar and Kimball avenues, being shut down as a nuisance building. According to Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, whose office petitioned a judge to have the business ruled a nuisance, the business had become "basically a breeding ground for crime."
"Law enforcement provided our office abundant evidence of numerous, repeated, continuing violations of the law: Guns, drugs, in some cases violent incidents that occurred in and around a particular location — the Save a Stop store that you just heard U.S. Attorney Ritz talk about," Mulroy said at the Friday morning press conference. "In some instances, violations of the law by employees and owners of the store itself cumulated to the point where it was basically a breeding ground for crime, which degraded the quality of life of the neighborhood residents and threatened their safety."
Mulroy said it is too early to know how the store's closure has impacted crime in the immediate area, but said he is confident that the closure will work to reduce crime. He added that there are other properties his office is investigating as potential nuisances, but said they could not share which properties those were yet.
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The federal charges are being brought against people ranging from as old as 58 to as young as 21. There is no parole in the federal system, so each of the 21 people charged will serve their entire sentence if convicted.
"This is only the beginning of our no-nonsense approach to dealing with those who perpetrate gun violence throughout our city," MPD Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis said Friday. "We know that federal charges bring about stiffer penalties for the most egregious offenses. To those who continue to terrorize our neighborhoods, businesses and threaten the quality of life of our citizens, we have a message for you. Federal prosecution means if you do the crime, you will do the time."
Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached atLucas.Finton@commercialappeal.comand followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.
