Nine people have been indicted in connection with what Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings described Wednesday as a “criminal enterprise” responsible for buying at least 12 guns for people banned from owning them.
The lengthy investigation into what’s known as “straw purchasing” was carried out by the Delaware Department of Justice, Dover Police Department, Delaware State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The straw purchasing operation was led by Nassir Williams, Jyheim Spencer and John Lassiter in late 2021, all of whom are now in custody of the state Department of Correction, Jennings said. None of the men could legally buy guns because of past criminal records, according to the Department of Justice, so they found people without records to purchase the guns for them.
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These “straw purchasers” were told to order guns online and have them delivered to a licensed gun owner in Delaware, the justice department said. After taking one gun for themselves as “payment,” the purchasers would then bring the guns to Williams, Spencer and Lassiter, who would sell them to their “criminal associates.”
At least one of the guns has been used in a shooting, Jennings said, and another was given to a “suspected violent gang member.”
“We know all too well the threat that each one of these guns poses to our communities,” Jennings said.
There have been nine shootings reported by police in the Dover area so far this year, killing two people and injuring eight.
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“This country is not prepared to see the kind of gun-related fatalities continue in perpetuity,” said Dover Police Department Chief Thomas Johnson, Jr.
Even if straw purchasers may not actually shoot anyone, they can still face steep consequences. Johnson said that some of those indicted last month “had no recognition of the consequences that were waiting them when they were going to get caught.”
Altogether, those indicted in the straw purchasing scheme face 76 felony charges. Jennings called the scale of this operation “comparable” to a recent indictment in Sussex County for straw purchasing, which leveled 91 felony charges.
“Proactively stopping straw purchases and punishing those who buy guns knowing they are giving them to violent offenders is a major way to curb violent crime in our state,” Jennings said.
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The Dover police chief acknowledged that some people may “leverage personal relationships” to make others buy guns for them. Still, Johnson said everyone needs to work on “keeping the tools of harm out of the hands of those who should not have firearms.”
Court dates for Williams, Spencer and Lassiter have not been released. They face a maximum cumulative sentence of 245 years in prison, the attorney general said.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
