ATF Arrests 5 on 13-Count Indictment in North Carolina-to-D.C. Gun Case

ATF agents arrested five people on October 20 on a 13-count federal indictment over a gun-trafficking scheme from North Carolina to Washington, D.C. The bureau announced the arrests in a release dated October 22 from Raleigh.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of North Carolina returned the indictment. Four defendants were arrested in Maryland and one in Raleigh. The charges include conspiracy to traffic firearms, firearms trafficking, and making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer, meaning a gun seller that holds a federal license.

The Make DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force executed the five federal arrest warrants. It is a federal task force chaired by the Homeland Security Advisor, and ATF describes its job as to curb violent crime, address narcotics and firearms offenses, enforce quality-of-life and transit rules, and support local and federal police agencies.

The task force determined that co-conspirators supplied upwards of approximately 40 firearms to individuals in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Saint Georges, Grenada. The release does not say how many of those guns have been recovered.

Two of the defendants, Young and Whitaker, hold valid Special Police Officer licenses in the District of Columbia. The indictment charges the following people.

• Brian “B” Agee, 40, one conspiracy count, six counts of firearms trafficking and aiding and abetting, and six counts of aiding and abetting a false statement to a licensed dealer.
• Arnise Lecresha Young, 33, one conspiracy count, six counts of aiding and abetting trafficking, and six counts of aiding and abetting a false statement to a licensed dealer.
• Frank “Fatboy” Rayvone Harris, 38, one conspiracy count.
• Antonique Whitaker, 34, one conspiracy count, two counts of aiding and abetting trafficking, and two counts of aiding and abetting a false statement to a licensed dealer.
• Christian Shedetta Atkinson, 30, one conspiracy count and one count of making a false statement to a licensed dealer.

Every conspiracy count cites 18 U.S.C. § 933(a)(2) and (a)(3). The trafficking counts cite §§ 933(a)(2) and 2. The false-statement counts cite §§ 922(a)(6) and 924(a)(2), and the aiding-and-abetting versions add § 2.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 15 years in federal prison for conspiracy and trafficking offenses and 10 years for false statements to licensed dealers. A federal district court judge would set any sentence after weighing the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

“If you traffic firearms to violent criminals, gang members, or prohibited persons, ATF will find you and hold you accountable,” said Rob Cekada, director of ATF. “State lines will not protect you.”

Alicia Jones, the ATF special agent in charge, said the suspects created a network to put firearms in the hands of dangerous and prohibited individuals. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said the joint effort shows coordinated enforcement can protect both Washington, D.C. communities and the communities where such schemes originate.

Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Ellis Boyle, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement. ATF is investigating the case, and it posted video of a press conference on the charges with the release.

The warrants were served October 20 and announced October 22. The release gave no arraignment or trial date.