Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Final Defendant Pleads Guilty in Case Involving 58 Firearms Stolen From Sporting Goods Store
DAYTON – Three Dayton men have admitted in federal court that they conspired to steal 58 firearms from Target World in Sharonville in June 2018.
Lamont Hancock, 22, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Dayton yesterday afternoon. Miyauhn Vineyard, 21, pleaded guilty in January 2021 and Michael Sanford, 26, pleaded guilty in February 2021.
According to court documents, on June 17, 2018, the co-conspirators parked in an adjacent parking lot and cut off an exterior door lock to the store. The individuals then smashed display cases in the retail area of the store and stole 58 firearms.
Two days later, the ATF recovered 10 of the firearms through a third-party sale.
Each of the defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal firearms from a federal firearms licensee, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Vipal J. Patel, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Roland Herndon, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced the plea entered into today before U.S. District Judge Michael J. Newman. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Saunders and Deputy Criminal Chief Dominick S. Gerace are representing the United States in this case.
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