Owensboro, KY – A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned an indictment on October 11, 2023, charging a Greenville, Kentucky man with firearms trafficking and dealing in firearms without a license.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the ATF Louisville Field Division made the announcement.
According to the indictment, from June 1, 2023, to September 14, 2023, in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, David Smith, 57, engaged in firearms trafficking when he transferred or otherwise disposed of 13 handguns to a person whose possession of the firearms Smith knew, or had reasonable cause to know, would constitute a felony.
Additionally, Smith is also charged with dealing in firearms without a license when from June 1, 2023, to September 14, 2023, in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Smith willfully engaged in the business of dealing in firearms when he did not have a license to do so.
Smith will make his initial court appearance on October 26, 2023, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. If convicted, Smith faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case is being investigated by the ATF Bowling Green Field Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Yurchisin, of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office, is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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