Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

HAMMOND- Darryl Ivery, Jr., 24, of Hammond, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after pleading guilty to making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Ivery was sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, between February and August 2020, Ivery purchased a total of 26 firearms on 17 different occasions from federally licensed firearms dealers in Lake County, Indiana. In each of the transactions, Ivery falsely certified on federal forms that he was the actual buyer. In reality, Ivery purchased the firearms for other individuals from Chicago, who paid him between $100 and $800 over the cost of the firearms to make the purchase. Law enforcement have recovered seven of the firearms: six in Chicago and one in Gary. Five of the firearms were recovered by law enforcement within one month of purchase, and one was recovered at the scene of a shooting.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Chicago Police Department, and the Gary Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Padilla.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, 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.