Nation

Ohio-N.J. weapons ring is broken up, feds say

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say they have broken up a weapons trafficking ring in which Ohio college students allegedly bought handguns that were funneled to a violent New Jersey street gang. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that the charges were the latest example of the Justice Department's nationwide crackdown on gun crime, which he said has resulted in a 24 percent increase in weapons prosecutions in 2003 compared with 2002. The case detailed by Ashcroft and other officials Thursday marked the first time federal charges have been brought in one state against a licensed gun dealer in another state for an alleged gun-running conspiracy. According to prosecutors, students or former students at Wilberforce University in Xenia, Ohio, acted as "straw buyers" to purchase about 200 handguns from the Hole in the Wall store. These buyers filled out federal gun background checks and falsely claimed they were the actual purchasers, authorities said. In exchange, the students were paid unspecified amounts of money. About 76 of the guns purchased in Ohio were allegedly funneled to a street gang in East Orange, N.J., known as the Double II Bloods. Fifteen of the guns have been recovered, all of them used in various crimes. The indictment says the Ohio store owner, James Dillard, made two large sales of 16 guns and 15 guns, respectively, on April 22, 2002, to two different "straw buyers." He had made a sale of 25 guns to one of the same purchasers five days earlier, the indictment charges. Prosecutors say Dillard apparently did not know the weapons were bound for the New Jersey gang. But he was aware, they say, that the students were simply acting as intermediaries to fill out the required paperwork. Dillard is charged along with Quadree Smith, alleged leader of the New Jersey gang, with conspiracy to deal firearms without a license. Dillard has also been charged with making unlawful gun sales. Two other alleged gang members are charged in the case in New Jersey and eight "straw buyers" in the Ohio case, authorities said. Several of those involved have already entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy and making false statements.