Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Baltimore, Maryland – William Perkins, age 36, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty today to the illegal possession of a machine gun with an obliterated serial number.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Rob Cekada of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD).

According to Perkins’ plea agreement, on October 21, 2016, a Baltimore Police officer was conducting surveillance in the 1400 block of Mosher Street in Baltimore, when he saw Perkins.  The officer saw that Perkins had a bulge in his clothing, consistent with the size of a firearm.  When a marked BPD vehicle drove by the location, Perkins went into a city-owned, unoccupied home on Mosher Street.  As BPD officers approached the building, they saw Perkins lean out a window and could see that Perkins had a pistol tucked into his pants.  Officers entered the house and Perkins retreated to a bedroom in the back of the house, where an officer saw Perkins reach out the window.  Perkins was arrested and officers recovered a pistol hidden in the back bedroom.

On October 27, 2016, Perkins placed a on call on a recorded line from jail and told the individual he was speaking with to return to the home and retrieve a firearm hidden outside the back bedroom window.  BPD officers went to the home and retrieved a machine gun with an obliterated serial number from the roof area above the back bedroom window, where Perkins had described hiding the gun.

Perkins and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Perkins will be sentenced to 90 months in prison.  U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for October 23, 2018.

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.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the ATF and the Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew DellaBetta, who is prosecuting the case.

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