Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

BOSTON — A Boston man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to illegally transport firearms from Alabama into Massachusetts.

Kobe Smith, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to illegally transport firearms. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for June 12, 2024. Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022 along with co-defendants Jahquel Pringle, Jarmori Brown and Brandon Moore.

Smith, Pringle, Brown and Moore conspired to obtain at least 24 firearms from Alabama, where Moore lived, and then transport them to Boston. Smith would place orders with Moore for firearms. In two separate trips in July and August 2020, Pringle traveled from Boston to Alabama on a commercial bus to pick up the firearms from Moore and then transported the firearms, concealed within luggage, back to Boston. Pringle was joined by Brown for the August trip. At least seven of the firearms have been recovered from the streets of Boston and surrounding communities. 

Smith is the fourth and final defendant in this case to plead guilty. In July 2023, Brown was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Pringle and Moore are awaiting sentencing.

The charge of conspiracy to illegally transport firearms provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. sentencing guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
    
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy and James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. This case is being prosecuted by the Major Crimes Unit.

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.

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