Baltimore County Man Facing Federal Indictment for Illegally Purchasing and Possessing Firearms and Ammunition.
Baltimore, Maryland – -(AmmoLand.com)- A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Al Jumal Mitchell, age 37, of Middle River, Maryland, for federal charges related to his illegal purchases and attempted purchase of firearms using a fraudulent Federal Firearms License. The indictment was returned on August 18, 2021. Mitchell has an initial appearance today at 1:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Baltimore before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson.
The indictment was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.
According to the six-count indictment, as a result of a previous conviction, Mitchell was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. The indictment alleges that Mitchell used fraudulent identification to illegally purchase two firearms and attempt to purchase a third outside of Maryland. Two of the firearms were allegedly shipped to Mitchell in Maryland.
Specifically, the indictment alleges that on October 9, 2020, December 18, 2020, and January 9, 2021, Mitchell used a Federal Firearms License that did not belong to him and had an altered address to purchase a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a 93R17 rifle, and a 9mm semi-automatic rifle, from three licensed firearms dealers. Further, the indictment alleges that Mitchell unlawfully received at his residence two of the three firearms, which he had acquired outside Maryland.
Finally, as alleged in the indictment, on April 8, 2021, Mitchell illegally possessed the two 9mm firearms he purchased on October 9, 2020, and January 9, 2021, as well as a 20 gauge pump-action shotgun, a .357 magnum revolver, and 165 rounds of various caliber ammunition, including 100 rounds of jacketed hollow point ammunition.
If convicted, Mitchell faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each of two counts of unlawful receipt of a firearm acquired outside Maryland; a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each of three counts of furnishing false identification to a licensed firearms dealer; and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for possession of firearms and ammunition by a prohibited person. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
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. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally-based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner commended the ATF and the Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger and his Office for their assistance. Mr. Lenzner thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsay DeFrancesco, who is prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
ATF is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating violations of federal firearms and explosives laws and regulations. More information about ATF and its programs can be found at www.atf.gov.
He got a fake FFL? Smells like a trap.
hey Moderators:
why cant you figure out that all these spam scammers include a live link? You should automatically flag for review any post tht has a live link. SOme we need, this sort we do not.
tnanks
Now that photocopies of FFLs are acceptable, it’s easy to fake an FFL with a little “creative xeroxing.” To ensure an FFL you receive is genuine, log on to the ATF website– anyone can– and choose FFLEzcheck. (This may not be quite the correct spelling.) Type in the first three and last five numbers from the FFL you received as indicated, and the name and address shown should correspond to the license you received.
Come on Ammoland, get your shit together and put a stop to these scammers
There is one curious question to which I’d sure like an answer: WHAT is the nature of the alledged felony conviction that rendered him”prohibited person”?
Driving 25 mph over posted speed limit? Behind on his child support payments? These are “felonies” but should NOT disqualify one from possession of arms.
I’d also be curious to know how BATF got”on” to this guy.What triggered their investigation?
It almost sounds like he was stopped in his vehicle. Hopefully it was a legal search.
These are the kind of people we do not need in our world.
Regardless of his prior conviction. If he forged documents. He should go to prison.
Looks like the government thugs are bragging about armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and violation of rights again.
Damn…I never thought of just faking an FFL….what a great idea, pick an abandoned address, fake the FFL, and just wait for the shipping info for when to show for signature. Thanks for the info ATF!!
I would think he stole a FFL number from a legit business. Hell I have trouble with actual businesses FFL numbers going through for a purchase to ship to their place of business in Pa. Usually they say, not on record. So I’m curious how he got away with a bogus number ? Did ATF have something to do with that ?
almos makes you think fbi or atf “sold” him a forged number that worked. I dont know of an ffl that ships without checking the number and address
I agree, I bought a firearm on 9/3/21 from a large store, they did not have my FFL on file, and I am still waiting on them to get their “stuff” together so the firearm can ship, thank God I don’t have to wait an extra 3 days once it does arrive. I’m starting to get aggravated!
a private seller can ship directly to the FFL address given by the buyer. I’ve done that myself. Of course, other FFL’s have access to information we plebes do not..part of the problem. They can check to verify the FFL f=license informatin as correct and current.We can’t.
https://fflezcheck.atf.gov/fflezcheck/
You should never ship to an FFL without verifying.