A Kent, Washington man has copped to illegally dealing over 100 guns, including some linked to crimes on local streets, federal authorities said. Dion Jamar Cooper, 31, entered guilty pleas to multiple firearm offenses last week, stemming from a scheme where he falsely purchased guns on behalf of criminals barred from owning them, according to U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman's office.
In a case that highlights the persistent plague of gun violence, Cooper was snared by law enforcement following a January 2023 assault and attempted robbery where a firearm, one linked to him, surfaced—in it exposed a history of purchases, including 107 firearms since June 2021, and on 24 occasions he snapped up multiple guns, sometimes as many as four or more, this list of weapons, now connected through a paper trail and the lead of violence back to Cooper's actions, law enforcement found 26 of these firearms already intertwined with criminal acts, a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office revealed.
Surveillance operations in March and April 2023 observed Cooper and De’ondre Lamontia Phillips, who shuttled Cooper to various gun shops for these purchases, after which Phillips, previously convicted on drug and gun offenses and therefore barred from owning firearms himself, stored the deadly arsenal at his home. In last month's proceedings, Phillips pleaded guilty to related drug and firearm possession crimes and is facing sentencing on April 26, 2024.
Handed down charges for Cooper are grave: two counts of making false statements during gun purchases, one count of straw purchasing firearms, and another for trafficking these weapons—the last two could see him behind bars for up to 15 years each, while the false statement charges carry a potential 10-year sentence each, with Judge Ricardo S. Martinez setting Cooper's date with destiny for May 17, 2024, underscoring the severity of gun-related crimes and the government's stance on cutting the flow of illegal arms to the streets, an overwhelming task tackled daily by the ATF and local police departments which continually sees criminals trying to outwit the system but the law steadfast in its pursuit.
The troubling case, investigated by ATF and Seattle Police, is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg, showing a combined effort to address and disrupt the illegal firearms distribution network and provide some measure of justice in an era punctuated by the crackle of illicit gunfire and the sorrow it births in communities forged and fractured in the crucible of gun violence.
