Federal officials in Atlanta have sentenced a man to prison for unlawfully acquiring dozens of firearms, several of which Atlanta Police officers later recovered at various crime scenes.
That man, Ben’Andre Javon Goolsby “helped fuel the violence in our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine in a press release for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
ATF Special Agent in Charge Arthur Peralta said in the press release that Goolsby put guns in the hands of criminals “who cannot legally own them.”
The press release detailed Goolsby’s offenses.
“From October 2017 through the date of his arrest in May 2020, Ben’Andre Javon Goolsby purchased 33 pistols from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Jonesboro, Georgia. Most of the firearms were 9mm and .40 caliber pistols. On several occasions, Goolsby purchased multiple guns of identical make, model, and caliber within a single week. During each transaction, Goolsby falsely stated to the firearms dealer that he was not under indictment for a felony offense. In fact, Goolsby knew at the time of each of his many purchases that he had been indicted in Rockdale County, Georgia, for a smash-and-grab burglary and other crimes. Those charges related to a 2014 break-in at a pawn shop from which Goolsby and others stole numerous firearms,” the press release said.
“Because federal law prohibits any person under indictment from receiving firearms, each of Goolsby’s purchases was unlawful. Several of the guns that Goolsby purchased found their way into the hands of people who sought to—and did—use them unlawfully. For example, in September 2018, police officers in Forest Park, Georgia, pulled over a car in which one of the 9mm pistols Goolsby bought was found alongside two other guns, pepper spray, walkie-talkies, and a taser. The vehicle’s occupants were dressed entirely in black and had black masks and gloves. In June 2019, sheriff’s deputies in Decatur, Georgia, found another of Goolsby’s 9mm pistols in the possession of a fugitive who was wanted on aggravated assault charges. A month later, also in Decatur, police confiscated a Goolsby-purchased .40 caliber pistol from a 19-year-old suspected of robbing a jewelry store and burglarizing a dollar store and gas station.”
U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown sentenced Goolsby, 25, of Atlanta, to three years, four months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Goolsby was convicted of making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer and unlawful receipt of a firearm, after he pleaded guilty on January 11, 2021, the press release said.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
