Oklahoma City Resident Sentenced For Possession Of An Unregistered Silencer

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Brandon Scott Coats, age 38, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 55 months in prison for one count of Possession of an Unregistered Firearm.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On September 25, 2023, Coats pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered silencer.  According to investigators, on January 11, 2022, Coats was in possession of a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle that had a silver cylindrical device attached to the barrel.  The device functioned as a silencer and was not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.  Under federal law, a silencer is considered a firearm, and it is illegal to possess a silencer unless the device is registered.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Honorable William Paul Johnson, U.S. Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee.  Coats will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Satter represented the United States.