DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Southern District of Indiana

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Joseph H. Hogsett
, United States Attorney
Contact: Tim Horty

Hogsett Announces Maximum Sentence Imposed on Illegal Firearm Manufacturing Operation

INDIANAPOLIS- Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today the sentencing of a Hendricks County man on federal firearms charges. Jackie Richardson, 49, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of unlawfully possessing a machinegun.

“Never in the three and one half years that I have served as the United States Attorney have we prosecuted a felony possession case more egregious and dangerous as this,” said Hogsett. “The danger posed by the presence of an illegal gun manufacturing operation to the citizens of Hendricks County is unacceptably disconcerting.”

Richardson was arrested on December 17, 2011, by Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department (HCSD) deputies following a 9-1-1 call reporting a domestic violence incident at Richardson’s residence in Coatesville, Indiana. When deputies responded to the residence, they uncovered evidence of an illegal firearms manufacturing operation and contacted the ATF. During a joint search of Richardson’s property, ATF agents and HCSD deputies recovered approximately 175 firearms along with various firearms parts and over 59,000 rounds of ammunition. ATF experts at the Firearms Technology Branch in Martinsburg, WV, later determined that 35 of the recovered firearms were fully automatic machineguns.

At the time of his arrest, Richardson was prohibited by federal law from possessing any firearms or ammunition by virtue of his multiple prior felony convictions, including convictions in Indiana state court for felony battery and theft in January and April of 1998, respectively and a prior felony conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (SDIN) in March of 1999. Prior to being prosecuted for the most recent federal violations, Richardson was convicted in Hendricks County Superior Court of felony intimidation stemming from a domestic violence incident in December of 2011.

This prosecution comes as part of the U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crime Initiative (VCI), and is the result of a collaborative investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department.

Announced in March of 2011, the Violent Crime Initiative represents a district-wide strategy to work with local law enforcement and county prosecutors to combat drug traffickers and criminals that use and carry firearms in their illegal activities. The VCI has produced a dramatic increase in the number of gun-related charges brought federally. In the year preceding the initiative, there were just 14 defendants charged with federal gun crimes by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In the nearly three years since, more than 314 defendants have been charged.

“Through our Violent Crime Initiative, and in working with our law enforcement partners here in Central Indiana, we’re sending a united message that illegally-armed felons will face the full force of federal law,” Hogsett added. “Prior to the initiative, this office prosecuted one gun crime a month, now we are aggressively prosecuting more than two per week.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Rinka, who prosecuted this case for the government, Richardson faces three years of supervised release following his sentence.

Columbus Field Division