Authorities have charged 40-year-old William T. Griffith III from Delaware, Ohio, with federal firearms crimes following his arrest earlier this month. Griffith, who is a convicted felon, was apprehended near the John Glenn Columbus International Airport, armed with multiple loaded weapons and ammunition.
On January 9, local police responded to a 911 call around 4 a.m. reporting a trespasser in a construction area at the airport. They found Griffith wearing military-style fatigue trousers and discovered four firearms, including an AK-style rifle, a shortened shotgun, and two handguns, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio. The officers, who also found body armor with ceramic plates and a ballistic helmet with night vision near the scene, arrested him on the spot.
Griffith, convicted of kidnapping back in 2011, is prohibited from possessing any firearms or ammunition. Despite this restriction, the federal criminal complaint against him now includes the charge of illegal ammunition possession.
Appearing in federal court in Columbus, Griffith's case was unsealed today, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio. Dominick S. Gerace II, the United States Attorney, along with Jason Cromartie, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Cincinnati Division, and members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, announced the new charges. Assistant United States Attorney Damoun Delaviz is now handling the government's case against the accused.
