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ATLANTA – Jahziah Roy Lewis was convicted of conspiracy to purchase firearms, possession of a firearm with a canceled serial number, exporting firearms outside the United States and possession in the intention to distribute marijuana.
“Lewis led the purchase of gun straw, had their serial numbers erased, then smuggled them into household items with the intention of selling them overseas,” the US prosecutor said Acting Kurt R. Erskine. “Our federal and international law enforcement partners were able to intercept some of the shipments before they were used in a crime. We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who buy firearms for others and illegally export them for illicit purposes.
“The illegal acquisition and trafficking of firearms is a serious crime that threatens our communities at home and abroad,†said Special Agent in charge of the Atlanta Field Division Ben Gibbons. “Used firearms are difficult to trace and that’s what the banned people are interested in. This investigation illustrates the dedication of the ATF and its law enforcement partners to disrupting illegal firearm straw purchasing programs in the United States or wherever firearms traffickers , like Lewis, choose to operate.
“Firearms illegally exported from the United States to the Caribbean fuel violent crime, which has a direct impact on regional stability and the national security interests of the United States,” said Ariel Joshua Leinwand, Special Agent in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office of Export Enforcement, which oversees BIS investigations in the South East. “This significant penalty should act as a deterrent to those seeking to violate US export and firearms laws. BIS and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively enforce export offenses to tackle illegal firearms exports. “
“Stopping the flow of illegal weapons prevents the spread of violence and crime in communities abroad,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees investigative operations on Homeland Security (HSI) in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI is committed to preventing the spread of illegal goods and is working with its law enforcement partners to bring these violators to justice. “
“The diversion of firearms from people who cannot legally possess them contributes to the cycle of armed violence which poses a direct threat to the security and stability of various communities,” said Tommy D. Coke, inspector in charge. of the Atlanta Division. “Postal inspectors will continue to aggressively investigate and hold accountable those who misuse the US messaging system. “
According to Acting US Prosecutor Erskine, the charges and other information presented to the court: Between February 18, 2017 and May 14, 2020, Jahziah Roy Lewis, a citizen of the United Kingdom, and two accomplices were involved in international trafficking weapons conspiracy to illegally purchase and export approximately 36 firearms and drugs from the United States to the United Kingdom and the Caribbean via the United States Postal Service. Several guns purchased in Georgia have been recovered in the UK and St. Kitts is linked to various criminal networks overseas.
At the time of each purchase, Lewis’s co-conspirators were filling out paperwork in which they falsely claimed to be the true buyers of the guns despite knowing they were buying the guns for someone else (Lewis) . Lewis then ordered his accomplice to erase the serial numbers on the guns. Once the guns were purchased, Lewis would sell the guns overseas by ordering his accomplices to conceal the guns in everyday household items and export them overseas using false names. on shipping labels.
On October 1, 2020, the same day the indictment against Lewis’s co-defendants was unsealed, Lewis was granted a one-way ticket for a flight from the United States to the United Kingdom. Local law enforcement, however, intercepted Lewis at Miami International Airport and arrested him on a criminal complaint before he could board his flight.
Jahziah Roy Lewis, 30, of St. Kitts and Nevis, was sentenced by US District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash to four years and nine months, followed by three years on probation.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Department of Homeland Security, the US Postal Inspection Service and the UK National Crime Agency investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dash A. Cooper is pursuing the case.
This case was brought within the framework of the Safe Neighborhoods Project (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia PSN program focuses on prosecuting those who lead the most violence in our communities and supports and promotes partnerships between the forces of the order and schools, the religious community and the local community. leaders to prevent and deter future criminal behavior.
For more information, please contact the US Attorney’s Office of Public Affairs at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
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