Litigative efforts by the Eastern District of Virginia have resulted in the forfeiture of 312 illegally owned, possessed, used or obtained firearms over the course the past fiscal year. This represents a 90 percent increase from last year.
Firearms that are criminally forfeited are removed from the possession of a convicted criminal defendant and relinquished to the government for disposal or the return of the firearm to a rightful owner.
“Our priority is to enforce the nation’s firearm laws to keep our communities safe,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for EDVA. “Our significant increase in firearm seizures is because we recognize that unlawful firearm terrorize communities. Forfeiting these firearms from convicted defendants ensures that these firearms can do no more harm.”
Since the start of 2023, EDVA has charged more than 225 defendants with federal firearms offenses, including possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and straw purchasing of a firearm.
These successes are a result of close cooperation between prosecutors and partners at federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). EDVA also partners with the state and local police and sheriffs across the district.
EDVA’s efforts to seize and forfeit illegal firearms in 2023 was the result of multiple investigative and prosecutorial efforts, including Project Safe Neighborhoods, which seeks to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them, and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, whose purpose is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
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Crystal Graham
