Twelve people, three of whom served in the military, supplied nearly 100 firearms to a notorious Chicago gang as part of a large-scale weapons plot that led to two killings, the Justice Department said Friday. Soldiers – identified as Demarcus Adams, 21. Jarry Branson and Brandon Miller, both 22, were at Fort Campbell near the Kentucky-Tennessee border, according to an indictment 21. They were indicted in July 2021. They allegedly broke federal firearms laws by buying firearms from local arms dealers in Kentucky and Tennessee and selling them to members of the Gangster Disciples street gang in Chicago’s Pocket Town neighborhood. They face up to 20 years in prison. DEMOCRATICS APPLY A BILL THAT REQUIRES DOJ TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION FOR PREFERENCES The Justice Department headquarters building in Washington is photographed early in the morning. Twelve people, including three U.S. Army soldiers, are charged in a large-scale arms trafficking ring that prosecutors claim supplied nearly 100 weapons to gang members in Chicago. (AP Photo / J. David Ake) “The Department of Justice will not be devoting resources to prosecuting criminal arms traffickers,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference in Chicago on Friday. “There is no hiding place for those who flood our communities with illegal weapons. It does not matter where you are or how far away you are. If you are trafficking illegal weapons, we and law enforcement partners across the country will find you.” Officials at Fort Campbell declined to comment to Fox News.
The nine defendants recently charged in the indictment are: Blaise Smith, 29; Rahaeem Johnson, 24; Bryant Larkin, 33; Corey Curtis, 26; Elijah Tillman, 24; Lazarus Greenwood, 23; Dwight Lowry, 41; and Dreshion Parks, 25, all over Chicago. with Terrell Mitchell, 27, of Davenport, Iowa. Between December 2020 and April 2021, the nine gang members bought and delivered more than 90 illegally acquired firearms to Chicago to use in ongoing battles with rival gangs, the Justice Department said. Federal prosecutors said Miller had received orders from the gang for specific weapons to buy. Miller, Branson, and Adams made the purchases at dealerships in Clarksville, Tennessee, and Oak Grove, Kentucky, and then gave them to members of the gang. They allegedly provided false information in the purchase requests. They also communicated via text message to coordinate the purchase and delivery of the weapons, prosecutors said. In an exchange on December 10, 2020, Miller texted Lowry about two firearms depicted as allegedly selling for $ 550. “Okay you can make them keep it until Friday? I have to pick up my bread,” Lowry wrote, according to the indictment. Miller reportedly replied, “Yes, I will buy them and keep them for you.” Payments for firearms were made through applications, including Zelle and CashApp, prosecutors said. At one point, Miller reportedly advertised that he had 1,000 cartridges for sale. Investigators believe one of the guns sold to the gang was used in a shooting that left one man dead and seven others injured at a Chicago party last March and another used in a barber murder in January 2021. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION The case is part of the Justice Ministry’s effort to investigate and prosecute arms trafficking amid growing crime across the country. Last year, the Ministry of Justice launched five strike forces between jurisdictions to prevent the illicit trafficking of weapons. Chicago officials and leaders in other cities such as New York and Baltimore, Maryland have long complained about the flow of legally purchased weapons to other states, sometimes hundreds of miles away, linked to crimes in their jurisdictions where the law on weapons is much stricter. In July 2021, Chicago formed an Arms Research Team to investigate illegal arms dealers and straw buyers – someone who buys a gun for someone else who can not or does not want to buy one himself – and to locate recovered firearms from crimes. The Associated Press contributed to this report.