Three Fort Campbell soldiers have been charged with conspiracy and offenses relating to the illegal purchase and transfer of dozens of firearms to the streets of Chicago, including several guns which were found at the scene of a mass shooting.
According to a Department of Justice release, Demarcus Adams, 21; Jarius Brunson, 22; and Brandon Miller, 22, all enlisted members of the U.S. Army and stationed at the military installation in Clarksville, Tennessee, were arrested May 11 by ATF agents and agents of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.
A criminal complaint charged each with transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident; making false statements during the purchase of a firearm; engaging in the business without a firearms license; wire fraud; money laundering; and conspiracy to commit Title 18 offenses.
An investigation began on March 26, when Chicago police responded to a mass shooting incident in which multiple people were shot and one person died.
Multiple firearms were recovered from the shooting scene and five of the firearms were found to have been recently purchased from Federal Firearms Licensed dealers in the Clarksville, Tennessee area, according to the release. Further investigation identified Adams, Brunson, and Miller as the majority purchasers of these firearms.
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A broader investigation into firearms transaction records in the Clarksville region found that since September 2019, the trio had purchased 91 firearms from multiple FFLs in Clarksville; Oak Grove, Kentucky; Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Paducah, Kentucky. The majority of the firearms were purchased during the last five months.
The criminal complaint also alleges that after the firearms were purchased, Miller would provide them to individuals he was associated with in Chicago.
On April 28, a federal search warrant was executed at the home of Miller and Adams in Clarksville, where 49 empty firearms cases were recovered.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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