Department of Justice

ATLANTA - Dawuan Na’jee Williams, a multi-convicted felon, has been sentenced to federal prison for using another person’s name and date of birth to purchase more than two dozen firearms, some of which were later used in a shooting and other crimes.                                                                                              

“Because he’s a felon several times over, Williams could not lawfully possess or purchase firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “He then skirted federal law by utilizing stolen identification information to purchase firearms and will spend the next decade in federal prison.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Special Agent in Charge, Jeffrey L. Matthews, of the Newark Field Division said, “This is a reminder that all would-be firearms traffickers and those that contribute to violent crime in our communities are on our radar and there is no safe haven.  ATF is deliberate and calculated in our approach to stem violent gun crimes from devastating our neighborhoods, while exploiting investigative leads derived from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), connecting crime guns to crime scenes, and leveraging our expertise to support investigations across multiple jurisdictions.”

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: Williams purchased more than two dozen firearms and large-capacity ammunition magazines from federally licensed firearms dealers in North Georgia and the Atlanta metro area between May 2020 and June 2021. Some of these guns were used in crimes just days after Williams obtained them.

For example, in May 2021, police officers in Newark, New Jersey, recovered a loaded semiautomatic pistol from a crime scene just eight days after Williams bought that firearm. In early July 2021, police officers in Tallahassee, Fla. responded to the location of a shooting and recovered a pistol that Williams purchased approximately four weeks earlier. In late July 2021, ATF agents seized several guns from Williams’s residence. Those guns included a pistol Williams purchased two months before ATF recovered it. NIBIN analysis linked that pistol to a shell casing recovered from the scene of the Tallahassee shooting. In connection with that incident, authorities in Florida charged Williams with various offenses, including attempted murder and aggravated assault. Those charges remain pending.

During the entirety of his buying spree, Williams was strictly prohibited from purchasing firearms because he had been convicted previously of numerous felonies, including home invasion robbery, robbery, terroristic threats, kidnapping, aggravated battery, drug trafficking, grand theft, and criminal use of personal identification information. During each sale, Williams used identification information belonging to a victim who was unaware of Williams’s identity theft.

Dawuan Na’jee Williams, 40, of Jonesboro, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg to ten years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Williams pleaded guilty on February 9, 2022, to one count of presenting false identification to a federally licensed firearms dealer.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, Firearms Trafficking Coordinator for the Northern District of Georgia, prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In keeping with the Attorney General’s mission to reduce violent crime, the Northern District of Georgia’s PSN program focuses on prosecuting those individuals who most significantly drive violence in our communities and supports and fosters partnerships between law enforcement and schools, the faith community, and local community leaders to prevent and deter future criminal conduct.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.