Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

WASHINGTON – Isaiah Green, 28, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to a federal

charge stemming from an investigation into a gun trafficking scheme in the District of Columbia, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Thomas L. Chittum III, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Green pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of

interstate travel in connection with engaging in the business of illegally dealing in firearms. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison. The Honorable Amit P. Mehta scheduled sentencing for Feb. 14, 2019.

The guilty plea followed an investigation by ATF, MPD, and the Virginia State Police

into Green’s role in the purchase of significant quantities of firearms during the summer of 2018.

Green and another individual were arrested on July 27, 2018, in the District of Columbia after allegedly purchasing four firearms at the Dulles Gun Show in Chantilly, Virginia.

According to the government’s evidence, an additional five firearms, all with obliterated serial numbers, were recovered from an apartment where Green was living at the time.

According to the government’s evidence, beginning in or around June 27, 2018, Green

and the other individual began accepting orders for firearms purchases from people residing within the District of Columbia. To fulfill the orders, the two traveled to various gun stores and pawn shops throughout Virginia. The other individual would fill out ATF forms and falsely assert that she was the intended owner of the firearm. Green could not purchase the firearms himself because he is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms due to a prior domestic violence conviction.

After purchasing the firearms, the two traveled back to an apartment in Southeast

Washington, where Green used a sanding tool to remove the serial numbers from the firearms so that the firearms could not be traced back to them after they were sold. The two would then illegally sell the firearms for a profit within the District of Columbia.

As part of the plea agreement, Green admitted that he and his co-defendant purchased 31 firearms for illegal resale in a one-month time period in 2018.

This case is being investigated by the ATF and MPD with the assistance of the Virginia

State Police. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin L. Rosenberg of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Trafficking Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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