Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
South Bend Woman Sentenced
For Straw Purchasing Firearms That Ended Up in Chicago
SOUTH BEND – Susie Wilson, age 23, of South Bend, Indiana, was sentenced before South Bend District Court Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr. for conspiring to obtain firearms by providing false or fictitious statements, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.
Wilson was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment followed by 1 years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Kirsch said, “We, with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively prosecute individuals involved in firearms trafficking.”
According to documents in this case, Ms. Wilson was charged by indictment with making false statements when purchasing firearms on eight occasions from retailers in the South Bend area between August, 2016 and May 2017. Ms. Wilson purchased the firearms for another individual. Seven of the firearms she purchased were recovered in Chicago. One of the firearms was involved in three shootings and one homicide.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank E. Schaffer.
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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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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