December 8, 2010

Four people were indicted in federal court Wednesday in one of the latest so-called “lying and buying” weapons cases being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In a separate case, two people pleaded guilty in federal court for their role in buying firearms for a convicted felon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Both cases are additional examples that Georgia is a source for “far too many illegal guns,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

All of the defendants face up to five years in federal prison, she said.

A grand jury indicted Anthony Vincent Cartman, 40, Erron Denise Love-Morgan, 39, and Tchaka Jamal Shields, 34, all of Marietta; and Casita Qwanet Washington, 34, of Lilburn, on eight counts of trafficking firearms for taking place in a so-called “straw purchasing” scheme from March to May 2009, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

During that time, Love-Morgan and Washington were able to buy about 15 firearms from federally licensed dealers in Georgia -- by telling the dealer they were buying the guns for themselves, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The pair actually were buying the weapons for Cartman and Shields -- two people who are not allowed to have guns, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Authorities recovered at least two of the weapons in Boston, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In the second lying-and-buying case, Eurby Dajoe Fitzhugh, 33, of West Haverstraw, N.Y.; and Richard Charles Young, 21, of Palmetto, pleaded guilty in their role of buying seven firearms from a dealer in Riverdale in August, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Fitzhugh, a convicted felon, went with Young to a firearms dealer in Riverdale. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Young told the dealer he was buying the weapons -- three .380 caliber pistols and four 9mm pistols.

An investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered a bill of sale that documented Young giving the weapons to Fitzhugh.

Fitzhugh said in court that he paid for all seven firearms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.