Friday, September 25, 2020

Martinsburg man admits to firearms trafficking

 MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Justin Arthur Davis, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has admitted to his part in an illegal firearms distribution operation, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Davis, 37, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy” involving the illegal purchase and transfer of firearms from Berkeley County to Pennsylvania in December 2019. Davis admitted to having conspiring to purchase firearms in Berkeley County, West Virginia, and then having those firearms transported the firearms across state lines to Philadelphia.

Davis faces up to five years of incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for the conspiracy. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

The government is also seeking the forfeiture of several firearms and ammunition connected to this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, investigated.

These charges are the result of investigations supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and is the keystone of the Department of Justice’s drug reduction strategy.  Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.

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