Washington, D.C. Man Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Federal Prison for Stealing Firearms from a Gun Store
Lawrence Was Wearing an Ankle Monitor at the Time of the Burglary
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Xyavion Lawrence, age 20, of Washington, D.C. to 57 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee’s inventory.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Jonathan F. Lenzner; Special Agent in Charge Timothy Jones of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Melissa R. Hyatt of the Baltimore County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, on August 8, 2019 at 1:09 a.m. Baltimore County Police officers responded to a burglary that had occurred at a licensed gun store in Essex, Maryland.
A subsequent review of the gun store’s surveillance footage revealed that Lawrence and a co-conspirator arrived at the gun store in, what was later determined to be, a stolen vehicle, 30 minutes prior to law enforcements arrival. After repeatedly backing the vehicle into the front door of the gun store, Lawrence broke into the front window, retrieved several firearms from within the store, and threw the stolen firearms to his co-conspirator. Lawrence and his co-conspirator returned to the vehicle and fled from the scene.
Shortly after the burglary, Lawrence broadcasted a social media video which captured Lawrence holding several firearms in the same clothing, mask, and gloves Lawrence wore during the burglary. Law enforcement matched Lawrence’s clothing and identifying forearm tattoo to the gun store’s surveillance footage. Additionally, the firearms captured in Lawrence’s video had the same strings tied around the trigger guard as the firearms sold in the gun store.
As stated in his plea agreement, Lawrence was wearing an ankle-monitoring device during the burglary. Location data from Lawrence’s ankle monitor placed Lawrence at the gun store at the time of the burglary.
During Lawrence’s arrest on August 10, 2019, Lawrence possessed a .22 revolver, one of the stolen firearms from the gun store.
Lawrence admitted he stole a total of six firearms from the licensed gun store.
Acting United States Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner praised the ATF and Baltimore Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Lenzner thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard P. Gallena who prosecuted the case.
