GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Michigan man who trafficked more than 40 firearms in three counties, including one that was used to kill a 2-year-old girl, has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Officials have announced that Jerreil LaMounta Martin, of Grand Rapids, will be serving 37 months behind bars for running an illegal gun trafficking business.
According to U.S. Attorney Mark Totten, Martin would straw purchase firearms and feed them to the black market. Martin would charge his customers $50-$100 per firearm to lie on purchasing forms, where he would state that the gun purchases were for him. In reality, he was purchasing guns for others.
A news release states that Martin’s customers were prohibited from buying guns for themselves. Some of these customers were convicted felons and others were reselling guns to other people, which Martin knew about, officials said.
Police recovered 14 of the firearms as they were investigating Martin and his illegal purchases.
“Straw purchasing and gun trafficking drive a dangerous black market for firearms,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said. “These crimes feed the violence that plagues communities across Michigan -- including the horrible killing of an innocent 2-year-old child less than a year ago. My office will hold straw purchasers and illegal gun traffickers accountable for creating these supply lines of violence.”
Below are several examples from the United States Attorney’s Office of the firearms that Martin obtained over the past couple of years in three Michigan counties:
Genesee County:
- A Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, which Martin purchased on April 22, 2021, was used in a drive-by shooting in Flint, which struck an 11-year-old girl.
- Another Glock 9mm pistol, which Martin also purchased on April 22, 2021, was used in a homicide in Flint.
Kent County:
- A Ruger 5.7 x 28 mm semi-automatic pistol, which Martin purchased on September 4, 2021, was used to kill a 2-year-old child on February 9, 2022, in Wyoming, Michigan. The Kent County Prosecutor has filed charges against the victim’s father, Seninta Parks, in this case.
- A Glock .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which Martin purchased on September 7, 2021, was used in a shooting on the Blue Bridge in downtown Grand Rapids on September 11, 2022, in which four people were injured. Moreover, this same gun was used in two prior shootings in Grand Rapids.
- A Glock 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, which Martin purchased on September 7, 2021, was used in three separate drive-by shooting incidents in Grand Rapids over the next two months.
Isabella County:
- A Glock .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which Martin purchased on September 10, 2021, was recovered by Central Michigan University Police in connection to a series of vehicle break-ins.
“Gun trafficking and straw purchasing is not a victimless crime. The act of knowingly enabling a prohibited person to purchase a firearm puts firearms in the hands of criminal organizations and violent criminals presenting a grave threat to the safety of our communities,” said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai.