Minneapolis Man Sentenced to Prison for Straw Purchasing Firearm Used in West Seventh Street Shooting
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Minneapolis man was sentenced to 25 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for illegally purchasing multiple firearms, one of which was used in the October 2021 Seventh Street Truck Park Bar Shooting, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, investigators with the St. Paul Police Department identified one of the suspects in the shooting. Surveillance video footage showed the suspect leave the bar holding a firearm and get into the back of a vehicle. Investigators later recovered from the vehicle a Mossberg model MC2C 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Investigators also recovered numerous 9mm discharged cartridge casings inside of the bar, which were consistent with the caliber of the firearm recovered from the vehicle.
According to court documents, a trace of the firearm revealed that it was purchased by Jerome Fletcher Horton, 26, on July 31, 2021, from a Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL) in Blaine. When Horton purchased the firearm, he stated on ATF Form 4473 that he was the actual buyer of the firearm. A review of sales reports submitted by various FFLs in and around the Twin Cities metropolitan area revealed that Horton had purchased 33 firearms from June 15, 2021, through October 17, 2021. On October 19, 2021, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Horton’s residence and found no firearms, despite his multiple purchases.
Horton was sentenced today in U.S. District Court before Senior Judge Donovan W. Frank. On March 3, 2022, Horton pleaded guilty to one count of false statements in the purchase of firearms.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Paul Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez prosecuted the case.
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