Sacramento Men Indicted for Firearm Trafficking Offenses

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a 24-count indictment today against Sacramento residents James Smallwood, 25, and John Smallwood, 45, charging them with firearm-trafficking offenses, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, James Smallwood and John Smallwood conspired to manufacture and sell firearms without a license. Over the course of eight transactions between September 28, 2016, and February 9, 2017, James Smallwood sold 20 firearms for $31,960. Seventeen of these firearms were homemade AR-15 style rifles and pistols, and seven of these homemade firearms were short-barreled rifles. John Smallwood manufactured the AR-15 style firearms and accompanied James Smallwood on one of the sales. On February 22, 2017, James Smallwood was apprehended while en route to sell 14 additional homemade AR-15 style short-barreled rifles for $28,000.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Owen Roth is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, both defendants face maximum statutory penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy count and for the count of unlawful manufacturing and dealing firearms and 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count of unlawful possession of short-barreled rifles. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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