Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ABERDEEN, MS – The final defendant was sentenced today in a case targeting the trafficking of firearms from Mississippi to Chicago, Illinois. Ronnell Pratt, 30, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced to 151 months in prison for firearms trafficking, conspiracy to traffic firearms, and retaliating against a witness.
The investigation began after agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives noticed a high volume of firearms recovered in crimes in the City of Chicago, Illinois had been purchased in the Northern District of Mississippi. Some of the firearms involved in new crimes had been purchased as recent as one day prior to use in a new offense.
Several of the firearms were recovered in violent crimes and had machinegun devices attached that converted the firearms to be able to fire automatically. In total, investigators identified over 60 firearms that were purchased illegally and transported to Chicago for resale by Pratt and others. While the case was pending, Pratt took harmful action against a witness for providing information to federal officers related to the offense.
On March 4, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Pratt to 151 months in federal prison for the offenses to be followed by three years of supervised release. Judge Aycock imposed the 60-month sentence for the conspiracy violation to run consecutively to the 91-month sentence for firearms trafficking. Pratt was also sentenced to 120 months for retaliating against a witness to run concurrent to the 151-month sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.
Ultimately, six defendants were prosecuted for their roles in the trafficking conspiracy, with a federal jury convicting one defendant last fall. The other members of the enterprise received the following sentences for their roles:
- Derrick Stewart, Jr., of Chicago, Illinois, 120 months imprisonment for firearms trafficking and conspiracy;
- Jarvis Hood, of Belzoni, Mississippi, statutory maximum of 60 months imprisonment for the offense of conspiracy;
- Jalene Young, of Inverness, Mississippi, 31 months imprisonment for making false statements during firearms purchases;
- Herbert Scott, Jr., of Belzoni, Mississippi, 14 months imprisonment for making false statements to federal agents; and
- Markeveon Brown, of Isola, Mississippi, 36 months of supervision for making false statements during firearms purchases.
“The straw purchasing and trafficking of firearms in this case contributed directly to the gun violence that plagues Chicago, and I hope that the message is clear that people who illegally purchase firearms for felons become convicted felons themselves when they face the inevitable consequences for their actions,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “I am extremely proud of AUSA Julie Howell Addison for leading this effort with our partners at ATF in Mississippi and Chicago to shut down this ring of people who were more than willing to take money to provide the means for violent criminals to terrorize a community.”
“The severity of this sentence holds this defendant accountable for the illegal trafficking of firearms between Mississippi and Chicago,” remarked ATF Special Agent in Charge Christopher Amon of the Chicago Field Division. “I commend the ATF Oxford Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi for their diligence in investigating and prosecuting this important case in cooperation with our ATF Chicago Field Division.”
The case was investigated by the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the ATF Oxford, Mississippi Field Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Howell Addison and Samuel Stringfellow prosecuted 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.