DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

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

For Immediate Release

Friday, August 24, 2018
Thomas L. Kirsch, II
, United States Attorney
Contact: Ryan Holmes

Michigan Couple Sentenced

For Firearms Charges

SOUTH BEND - Ricky R. Wadsworth and Shannon Brown were sentenced on August 23 and 24, respectively, by United States District Court Judge Jon E. DeGuilio for transferring a firearm to a felon and illegal possession of firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.   

 

Wadsworth, age 47, from Sturgis, Michigan, was sentenced to 57 months imprisonment followed by 2 years of supervised release for transferring a firearm to a felon. 

 

Brown, age 37, from Union City, Michigan, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment followed by 2 years of supervised release for felon in possession of a firearm. 

 

According to documents in this case, for several months in 2014, Brown and Wadsworth talked to a convicted felon about selling firearms to him.  Brown and Wadsworth’s efforts culminated in Brown finding a supplier and making available seven firearms of various types to a buyer who was a convicted felon.  Brown and Wadsworth offered several firearms, but they only sold one to him, a Norinco Model SKS 7.62 caliber semi-automatic rifle equipped with a folding bayonet, extended magazines, and 132 rounds of ammunition.  The sale took place in the middle of the day in a grocery store parking lot in Michigan City, Indiana.

 

Brown has three felony convictions for possession of methamphetamine, two convictions for possession of marijuana, and one conviction for purchasing precursors to make methamphetamine.  Wadsworth has eleven prior felony counts of conviction and seven misdemeanor counts of conviction, including trafficking or possession of controlled substances, theft, burglary, and weapons offenses. 

 

This case was investigated by ATF with assistance from the Hammond Police Department, Michigan City Police Department and New Buffalo Police Department.  The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Donnelly.

 

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Chicago Field Division