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Press Release

Gulfport Man Sentenced for False Statement in Purchasing Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Mississippi

 

 

Gulfport, Miss. – Isaac Q. Coleman, 25, of Gulfport, Mississippi, was sentenced yesterday to seven months in federal prison and five months of home confinement, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for knowingly making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Coleman was also ordered to pay a $3,500.00 fine. He pled guilty to the charge on September 20, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr.

On January 13, 2017, Coleman purchased a handgun at Cook’s Gun Shop, in D’Iberville, Mississippi, for Tony D. Crawford, a convicted felon. Coleman and Crawford entered the Gun Shop together and shopped for a firearm together. Crawford then paid Coleman, and Coleman purchased a 9mm pistol from the store. In purchasing the firearm, Coleman knowingly provided a false and fictitious written statement to the federal firearms licensee. Coleman knew his false statement on the ATF Form 4473 contained information which was required to be kept in official records, and that the gun shop could not complete the transaction if it was known that the firearm actually was being purchased in what is commonly known as a "straw purchase".

Ultimately, the firearm was found by ATF agents in the possession of Crawford. He was charged and pled guilty to illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Crawford is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Biloxi Police Department, and the D’Iberville Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.

Updated December 15, 2017