5 Indicted In Georgia-To-California Gun Trafficking Operation Involving Hundreds Of Firearms
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Five people, including two from Sacramento, were charged with trafficking hundreds of firearms from Georgia to California to sell them on the black market, prosecutors said Thursday.
Jerrell Lawson, 31, and Aisha Hoggatt, 29, both from Sacramento, and Malek Williams, 28, of Atlanta, Ga., Terrence Phillips, 39, of Union City, and James Gordley, 32, of Modesto, were all charged with conspiracy to unlawfully deal in firearms and unlawful dealing in firearms, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento said.
All five defendants were arrested on March 11. The investigation began after a gun used in a Sacramento shooting was reportedly traced to a sale by a federally licensed dealer in the state of Georgia, prosecutors said. Another sale of the same gun led investigators to an organization run by Lawson.
More than 500 firearms were allegedly purchased by Lawson's organization for more than $162,000 between November 2019 and October 2021. Lawson would broker the transactions and Williams would send them to various locations across California, prosecutors said.
Hoggatt allegedly helped coordinate the purchasing, mailing and distribution with Lawson, while Phillips and Gordley also distributed the firearms in California.
Lawson, Hoggat, Williams and Phillips were also charged with transferring a gun to an out-of-state resident and unlawfully mailing a firearm. Lawson was separately charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.