Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Man Sentenced to Prison for Role in Firearms Trafficking Scheme
RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for his role in a firearms trafficking scheme.
According to court documents, Jason Fields, 28, illegally purchased a total of 13 firearms in 10 separate transactions on three different days in the summer of 2016 from federally licensed firearms dealers. For each transaction, Fields represented on forms required for the transactions that he was the true purchaser of the firearms, when he was actually purchasing the firearms for other individuals. Fields later told authorities that the individuals told him they were from Washington, D.C., which would have made their transactions in Virginia illegal.
At sentencing, the Court applied a sentencing enhancement, finding that Fields knew or should have known that the individuals for whom he obtained the firearms intended to dispose of the firearms unlawfully. Indeed, three of the firearms were subsequently recovered by police officers in Richmond, Prince George County, Maryland; and Washington, D.C. The other 10 firearms have not been recovered.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S.
District Judge Robert E. Payne. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen W. Miller prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No.
3:18-cr-43.