United States v. McKenzie, No. 21-5295 (6th Cir. 2022)
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McKenzie purchased 13 firearms from federally licensed dealers. The ATF tracked McKenzie, who signed a federal form acknowledging that he was not purchasing it for someone else, then gave Clark the Glock in exchange for cash. Officers arrested Clark. Text messages from Clark’s phone revealed discussions with McKenzie; they never discussed why Clark did not buy the gun himself. McKenzie made a second purchase weeks later, again signing the "straw purchaser" form. Officers watched him give Schwartz the gun, conducted a traffic stop, and recovered the firearm. Schwartz stated that McKenzie bought the gun for him. McKenzie did not ask Schwartz why he could not buy the gun himself.
McKenzie pleaded guilty to making a materially false statement to a licensed firearms dealer, 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(6). The PSR applied U.S.S.G. 2K2.1, which calls for a higher base offense level if the offense involved a semiautomatic firearm, the defendant was convicted under 922(a)(6), and the defendant “committed the offense with knowledge, intent, or reason to believe that the offense would result in the transfer of a firearm or ammunition to a prohibited person[.]” The district court found that McKenzie had reason to believe that Clark and Schwartz were prohibited persons, calculated McKenzie’s guidelines range as 30-37 months, and imposed a 30-month sentence. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Guideline requires only that a straw purchaser knew of facts creating a fair probability that the true buyer could not possess a firearm.
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