Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Laquan Hassan Croswell, age 25, of Paterson, New Jersey, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to 30 months’ imprisonment on charges related to straw purchase of firearms.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the investigation began when a firearm purchased by Croswell was recovered in Paterson, New Jersey, in connection with an armed robbery. Agents determined that Croswell had purchased in excess of thirty firearms from firearms dealers both in Pennsylvania and Florida. Croswell then sold many of the firearms without filing the required transfer paperwork for each firearm transaction. In essence, Croswell lied when he purchased these firearms, stating on the ATF Form 4473 purchase documents that he was the true purchaser of the firearms when he knew that he was purchasing them to be resold to unidentified persons. Several of the firearms have yet to be recovered.

Judge Munley also ordered Croswell to pay a $100 special assessment, and be placed on two years of supervised release once released from federal prison. All the firearms purchased by Croswell have been forfeited to the government.

The case was investigated by the ATF and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd K. Hinkley

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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