September 1, 2023 - SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a 13-count superseding indictment on Thursday against Michael Motley, 36, of Sacramento, charging him with conspiracy to unlawfully deal in firearms without a license, unlawfully dealing in firearms without a license, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Jerrell Lawson, 32, of Sacramento; Aisha Hoggatt, 30, of Sacramento; Terrence Phillips, 40, of Union City; James Gordley, 33, of Modesto; Malek Williams, 29, of Georgia; Andre Warren Jr., 24, of Sacramento; Jjuan Brown, 32, of San Francisco; Kenyatta Alexander, 37, of Sacramento; Jarren Meek, 24, of Stockton; and Keino Brue, 28, of Georgia, were all previously indicted for the firearms trafficking scheme where firearms were acquired in Georgia and shipped to California to sell on the black market.

According to court documents, between November 2019 and March 2022, Lawson and his co-conspirators brought more than 500 firearms from Georgia into California and sent more than $300,000 in money transfers to purchase those firearms. Lawson would broker firearms transactions in Georgia over the internet, and Williams, a Georgia resident with a license to carry a concealed firearm, would pick up firearms in person and mail the firearms to various locations in California at Lawson’s direction. Some of the firearms went to individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms due to prior felony convictions. Hoggatt worked with Lawson to coordinate the purchase, mailing, and distribution of the firearms. Phillips and Gordley also distributed the firearms in California.

Additional investigation revealed that Warren, Alexander, Brown, Meek, and Motley are members of Lawson’s firearms trafficking organization and sub-distributors of firearms. Bruce also conducted hand-to-hand firearms transactions and received over $23,000 in money transfers to purchase firearms for Lawson’s firearms trafficking organization. Warren, Alexander, Brown, Meek and Motley all discussed acquiring and selling firearms; Warren, Alexander, Brown, and Meek all discussed machine gun conversion devices with Lawson. On one occasion, Brown indicated to Lawson the individuals in Oakland who Brown was supplying firearms to were “scar[]y.” Lawson, Phillips, Gordley, Warren, Alexander and Motley are all prohibited from possessing firearms because they each have one or more prior felony convictions.

The investigation began when a firearm used in a shooting in Sacramento was traced to the last known sale by a federally licensed dealer in Georgia. A subsequent sale of the firearm led to Lawson’s firearms trafficking organization. Lawson and his co-conspirators used coded language to traffic firearms and moved money using a variety of financial institutions. During the investigation, interdicted packages destined for Lawson and other co-conspirators were found to contain firearms, ammunition, knives, and brass knuckles, among other things.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Sacramento Region/San Francisco Bay Area Cross-Jurisdictional Firearms Trafficking Strike Force Initiative. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexis Klein and Ross Pearson are prosecuting the case.

The Sacramento Region/San Francisco Bay Area Cross-Jurisdictional Firearms Trafficking Strike Force is one of five cross-jurisdictional strike forces launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2021 to disrupt illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country. Each strike force is led by designated United States Attorneys, who collaborate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and with state and local law enforcement partners within their own jurisdiction as well as law enforcement partners in areas where illegally trafficked guns originate. The strike forces use the latest data, evidence, and intelligence from crime scenes to identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes, and are an important part of the Department’s Comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy.

Williams pleaded guilty to unlawfully dealing in firearms without a license and faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison for unlawful dealing in firearms. Charges are pending against the remaining defendants. If convicted, the defendants face the following maximum penalties: five years in prison on each count for conspiracy to unlawfully deal in firearms, unlawful dealing in firearms and transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident, and two years in prison on each count for unlawful mailing of a firearm. Lawson, Alexander, and Motley face an additional maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the felon in possession of a firearm charges. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.