Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Trae Mose, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for making false statements in acquiring a firearm. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Mose to 37 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Mose will begin a three-year term of supervised release on the firearms charge.

On June 19, 2020, Mose purchased a Taurus 9mm firearm at Cabela’s, a federal firearms licensee. On the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosive (BATF) Form 4473, a form required by federal firearms licensees to retain and transmit to BATF, Mose indicated he was the actual buyer of the Taurus 9mm handgun at the time of its purchase. That firearm was subsequently used in four separate shooting events until its recovery on July 31, 2020 in the possession of Traveon Winston, a convicted felon.

Mose was interviewed about this purchase and stated that the firearm “must have been stolen” even though he never reported it as stolen to the police. During the interview, Mose admitted that Traveon Winston was with him at the Cabela’s during the purchase and may have even handled the gun while at the gun counter.

Investigation revealed that Mose had purchased several handguns between June and September 2020, yet several of the firearms were missing from Mose’s residence when police searched it. According to Mose, those firearms must have also been “stolen” though not reported. When Mose pled guilty, he admitted making false statements to a firearms dealer.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Omaha Police Department. It is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S.
 
Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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