Indiana Woman Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Role In Death
Ashantae Corruthers, an Indianapolis woman, was the second person sentenced to federal prison for their role in procuring a firearm for a known felon by acting as a “straw purchaser” for a person who was legally prohibited from owning a firearm that would ultimately kill a police officer with the weapon. As we have previously covered, a straw purchaser of a firearm is someone who falsely certifies on a form used by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive (“ATF”) that they are purchasing a firearm for themselves when in fact they plan on transferring or selling the firearm to someone else who would not pass the necessary background check because they are prohibited under law due to their criminal history, immigration status or otherwise. In the case at hand, Corruthers bought the gun at an Indianapolis firearm store in 2020 claiming it was for herself when in fact she had conspired with Regina Lewis to obtain the gun for Darion Lafayette, a felon, and then reported the gun as stolen. In 2021, Lafayette would fatally shoot Officer Christopher Oberheim in Champaign, Illinois when he and another officer, who was also wounded in the attack but survived, were responding to a report of domestic abuse. Regina Lewis, who was cousins with Lafayette, received an 8 ½ year sentence for her role in procuring the weapon which also left Lafayette fatally wounded.
Worrisome Developments in Firearms from Other States Being Used in Illinois Crimes
Recent data released by the ATF showed that of the firearms recovered connected to criminal activity in Illinois, Indiana gun shops were the source of more guns than any other state, other than Illinois stores themselves. While roughly 2,500 guns were tied back to sale in Indiana in 2022, that number was actually a small decrease from 2021, and pales in comparison to the roughly 7,500 that could be traced to Illinois gun shops. There was also a notable increase in guns recovered from southern states such as Mississippi, with a Chicago police spokesman, Thomas Ahern, characterizing it as a, “direct pipeline” saying that, “there’s a lot of people in Chicago with contacts in the Mississippi area. The laws are very lax down there, so they go down there and bring guns up.” What was particularly troubling about some of the guns was that nearly 3,700 of the guns used in crimes had been purchased within the year before being used representing a “red flag” that may show that these guns are “part of a larger operation of guns where they may be a straw purchaser involved where they’re buying guns and making a profit selling to prohibited people,” Ahern said. Both the federal government and local authorities are clearly taking notice and prosecutions are on the rise. It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, Illinois’ tightening gun laws have on the supply of guns used in criminal activity, and what states those guns are purportedly sourced from in the future. It is likely that law enforcement will continue to crack down on those engaging in cross-state gun-trafficking and straw purchasing schemes. Anyone accused of a firearms related offense should hire an experienced criminal defense attorney who can represent protects their interests.
