Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Charlie Easton, 29 years old, of South Bend, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty after pleading guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Easton was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, in April 2023, South Bend law enforcement responded to a notification of shots being fired from an automatic weapon. Officers encountered Easton who led them on a high-speed car chase as he fled from the scene. When Easton reached a dead end on the road, he took off on foot. Officers recovered a firearm that Easton dropped as he ran. The firearm contained an extended magazine and an auto sear, which device turned the firearm into a fully automatic machinegun. Easton has a prior felony conviction, and as such, is prohibited from possessing the firearm in this case.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with assistance from the South Bend Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelan McKenzie Doyle.

This case 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.

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