MEMPHIS, TENN –-(Ammoland.com)- Prosecutors have sentenced two men who allegedly stole 366 guns from a United Parcel Services facility in Memphis, Tennessee a year ago to nine years in federal prison.
Roland Jackson, 24-years-old, and Taveyon Turnbo, 18-years-old, of Chicago both plead guilty to transporting and possessing the stolen firearms. Prosecutors also charged Jackson with being a felon in possession of a gun. Jackson ultimately pleaded guilty to that charge as well.
As reported by AmmoLand, On Sept. 28, 2018, the UPS facility in Memphis received a shipment of 16 pallets from the Ruger factory located in North Carolina. The shipment was due to leave the Memphis facility on Sept. 30 for Dallas, Texas.
In the early morning of Sept. 30, two men broke into the UPS facility and loaded three of the 16 pallets into a U-Haul truck. The thieves escaped into the night with 366 firearms that were chambered in .22LR and .380 ACP. The ATF asked the public for help in recovering the firearms and offered a $5,000 reward for information about the theft.
Two days later someone called the police in the Chicago suburb of Midlothian, Illinois. The caller spotted suspicious activities around U-Haul truck in a Walgreens store parking lot and was concerned. When police approached the vehicle, Jackson and Turnbo refused to unlock the doors or roll down the windows. The police eventually smashed the passenger window next to Turnbo and drew their guns on the suspicious men.
Both men jumped out of the U-Haul truck and ran from the scene through a connecting neighborhood. The police pursued the two suspects and were able to take Turnbo into custody a couple of hours later. Police were able to apprehend the other suspect a day later.
Officers stayed at the Walgreens parking lot to investigate the U-Haul as other officers chased the suspects as they fled the scene. When the officers opened the back of the U-Haul, they were astonished to find 364 of the stolen firearms from the Memphis UPS heist. Turnbo later told police that he had sold the other two guns for $400.
Law enforcement believes that Turnbo and Jackson were transporting the gun to Chicago. According to prosecutors, the two men had plans of selling the firearms on the streets of Chicago.
Although Turnbo doesn’t have a criminal history, Jackson has an extensive history with law enforcement. The courts have convicted him of residential burglary, theft, retail theft, and criminal damage to property. At the time of his arrest, he was facing three additional felony cases for retail theft.
The Memphis, TN UPS facility itself has a history of theft. In 2017, 24 guns were stolen from the same facility on their way to a gun store in Louisiana. In addition to guns, other shipments have gone missing from the same facility leading law enforcement to call on UPS to better police itself.
In addition to the nine years of federal prison time that the court sentenced the men to serve for their crimes, the court also ordered the men to be supervised for three years following their release from prison.
UPS did not return AmmoLand’s request for comment.
About John Crump
John is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is Virginia State Director for Gun Owners of America. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
Steal 366 firearms and you get nine years, put a grip on a pistol you own and you get ten! What a country!
Zackley !
They should have been given consecutive sentences for each gun stolen + connectives for the felon.
Only nine years….
Probably Eric Holders nephews… Restocking for the next “Fast and Furious” gun handout.
You have to love it when the criminal is the one above all the gun laws. The more they steal, the more they rob and kill, the more the law abiding citizen will have to shoulder it until all we got are rocks to throw because you can bet at this point they’ve already taken all our slings!
Fairfax Va. cop stops a vehicle, finds out the illegal border jumper driving it has no license but DOES have an ICE warrant. he arrests him to turn him over to ICE. His commanding officer reprimands him and gives him time off, it’s a NO – NO to harass or arrest a border jumper now, IMAGINE THAT ! Perp is released with his car keys and the officer has to take mandatory classes on making illegals INVISIBLE to the law. Yeah, tell me the Dems/libs haven’t F**KED this nation up…
TRUMP 2020
That is very messed up!! How is an illegal ABOVE the law? And the fact that they just let him go….no license for me and i’d be going to jail. Did he even have insurance?
For those that wonder how criminals get their hands on guns, read the article. The black market is alive and well. Of course I’m sure they would have transferred the stolen weapons through a FFL with a ‘universal background check’. Just kidding about the FFL.
Far as I know, theft of ONE firearm carries at least a five year jack. These punks steal 360 or so, got nine years. that’s ten days per gun. And all the dimwits can do is holler for more gun laws and harsher penalties for breaking the many stupid laws restricting them. And here the dirtbags get TEN DAYS PER GUN they stole, in an intertate heist? Go find the judge that laid down that sentence and take away his armed guards and security, and stop screening for guns on everyone that enters his courtroom. This guy needs sanctioned. Big… Read more »
All you have to do is look up maritime law and our court system. Our system of justice was hijacked more than a century ago and we are no longer judged under common law. The justice system is nothing more than the thug enforcement of a corporation (the Corporation of the United States created by the Act of 1871) and they can dish out fines and sentences however they please; this is why they continually violate the Constitution. They keep releasing the criminals to keep the system revolving, because if that is how they keep the tax dollars flowing. They… Read more »
This brings up the interesting point: UPS ships guns everywhere, including to law enforcement. So, if Liberal politicians want to keep us from having certain firearms it would appear that could be defeated by simply stealing from UPS or other common carriers! That, along with the fact that modern CNC machines can crank out virtually any firearms you can think of are two possibilities Liberals never considered, I guess. OR, more likely, they just don’t care!
It is a known fact that there is an occasion when a worker gets “sticky fingers” whether they work at UPS, FedEx or the post office. This is not that unusual for this to happen, in fact FEdEx broke up a ring of these thieves a few years back. People weren’t getting the items they ordered and it was traced back to these perps. I don’t know but they were most likely democrats.
Appears someone on the inside alerted these two criminals that these firearms were being stored in this facility and hoped for a big payday. They should be spending their 9 year sentence in the sun and fresh air swinging a 5 pound sledge hammer 8 hours a day.
Exactly! They don’t hesitate to say ” white male” but they are scared to say “Two young black boys “…..SMDH
Well guess I won’t be using UPS anymore, if they hire convicted felons to handle their mail/packages. These theiving bastards should have gotten at least 20 yrs.
You did not read the article, nor the earlier reports of the theft when it happened.
It said these two dirbags BROKE INTO the UPS facility.
Yes, they obviously ha inside contact advising of the shipment, somehow. This convicted felon was NOT employed by UPS. I know they do background checks, and his felony record would put him in the do not hire box. The other punk, too young to be working in a secured reight handling area at a UPS hub.
Owning/possessing a firearm is NOT supposed to be illegal according to the 2A. I understand the 2A to mean everyone who is of legal age, who is NOT in jail or the loony farm, has the right to keep and bare arms. Stealing still IS a crime in most states, nations and religious sects. Dirt bags, cartel operatives, gang bangers and terrorists who steal, rape, murder, assault etc. are fair game to the cops and the righteous citizens here in the U.S. Arm up, carry on.
Thats it ! Surly there are numerous federal crimes, state crimes in Illinois, and additional crimes in Tennessee. But unless these rats and all others who steal firearms, kill with firearms, possess stolen firearms and smuggle firearms -at minimum spend life in prison without parole, Any less a sentence will fuel the continuum of gun crimes, especially murder. There is a strong linkage between illegal drugs and stolen firearms. Narcos and Gangs are the common thread. As long as democrats cry and whine to protect gangs and both political parties work to lighten prison sentences and open the prison gates… Read more »
@Jaque – beware unforeseen complications. What if you are forced to use firearm in self defense? Miscarriage of justice by “woke” jury would carry far harsher penalties than it already does. If you buy a used firearm, how do you know if it was once stolen? What if you were wrong – or even bought it from an FFL who failed to discover history? FOPA currently provides some (weak) protections while traveling. Perhaps you schedule an elk hunt in Wyoming (or wherever one goes) and drive with your rifle, passing through some anti-gun locals on the way. Do you think… Read more »
one way to reduce the connexion between “illegal drugs” and firearms theft……. remove ALL the drugs from the Controlled Substances act….. take the criminal element out of the equation. If I can welk down the street or drive my car with anything in my pocket, no guns will be needed to “control” me or the “junk” I’ve got in my pocket. Possession of a dime bag of weed, a phial of coke, a bottle of xanax or heroin pills will then be no different than a bag of Skittles and a bottle of Montain Dew, or a Hershey’s chocolate bar.… Read more »
How is anybody with a criminal history like that able to get a job with U.P.S. where they handle valuable items including FIREARMS?????
W.T.F. U.P.S.
If I or someone in my family was shot with one of the stolen firearms in this case I would likely sue UPS for negligence in hiring that person.
THey didn’t work for UPS…..they drove down from Chicago to TN with a van. But the good question is, how did they know those guns would be there???
musta gradjitated from wunna dem gummit skewlz… yoo kin REEEEEEED the words, but doan unnastan whut dey is a sayin….
they did NOT work for UPS, who will not hire felons. But they certainly DID have some inside contact to know that shipment was coming through.
If the suspects were sentenced then apparently it is no longer “allegedly stole” sounds like some liberal news outlet….
Just a guess on my part…but I would think since the suspects are at the sentencing stage of this crime, that they are no longer ‘alleged’ to have committed the theft?! 😉
9 years. Just off the top let’s see how many crimes were committed.. Conspiracy. Interstate transportation of stolen goods. Grand larceny . Distribution of stolen firearms.Resisting Arrest. I am sure the are many more..9 years is a sweetheart deal..
ALL criminals federal facing firearms charges get sweetheart plea deals – when they are even charged at all. Only law-abiding citizens who make a technical mistake face the full weight of federal prosecution for firearms offenses.
The plea deal was WAY below the Federal MINIMUM for the crimes that could (should?) have been charged. 366 counts of theft, 366 counts of unlawful transfer of a firearm, etc., etc.
So….. Not really the best reporting / editing job in the world, is it? Prosecutors do not sentence anyone, only a judge can do that. Prosecutors and defense attorneys can agree to a plea deal, but again, only the judge can approve the deal and sentence someone. Also, if someone has been tried, convicted, and sentenced, they didn’t “allegedly” do anything, they’re guilty of actually doing it. Kudos though, for knowing to spell out nine, rather than use the number 9.
“Prosecutors have sentenced two men who allegedly stole 366 guns from a United Parcel Services facility in Memphis, Tennessee a year ago to nine years in federal prison.”
Seriously? Neither John Crump nor any editors know it’s either a judge or jury who imposes sentences upon conviction?
Prosecutors would invariably impose maximum sentences; it’s one of many reasons they can’t do this.
The prosecutor and the defendant’s lawyer agreed on a deal, they walked into court together and told the judge was they had agreed. The judge banged his gavel and went home for the day. Case closed. No, federal prosecutors wouldn’t “invariably impose maximum sentences” — the record is clear that the vast majority of criminals facing federal firearms charges get plea deals that (like this one) are WAY BELOW the federal minimum sentencing guidelines for the crimes they were facing. Federal prosecutors only go for blood on firearms charges when the defendant is an otherwise-law-abiding citizen who made some technical… Read more »
They do it to keep the revolving system going. Our “justice system” needs criminals and crime to keep the money flowing. If they execute or imprison all of these criminals like they should, crime would eventually become nearly non-existent, an we wouldn’t need millions of law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, prison cells, attorneys, and bullshiite laws. By the way, the bullshiite laws are designed to keep the law-abiding people intimidated and under control.