Dorchester man gets 18 months for helping to ferry illegal guns up from Alabama

A federal judge this week sentenced Jarmori Brown, 21, to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a ring that purchased guns in Alabama, then rode with them on buses up to Boston, where they sold the weapons on the black market.

Brown is facing sentencing in Suffolk Superior Court on July 19 on state charges that include assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a loaded firearm and assault and battery on a family member, and being an accessory after the fact for two separate incidents in 2021, and sentencing the next day in Dorchester Municipal Court on a charge of illegal possession of a firearm - one of the guns the ring brought up here. In a sentencing recommendation, Brown's federal attorneys say they expect him to plead guilty to the Suffolk charges and be sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. With credit for the time he's already served awaiting the disposition of his cases, Brown will still need to spend 9 to 15 months in state prison, his attorneys say.

Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 27 months after Brown pleaded guilty in March of this year to illegal transportation or receipt in state of residency of firearm purchased or acquired outside of state of residency, and one count of conspiracy to illegally transport firearms:

Brown has admitted to participating in a conspiracy that obtained no fewer than twenty-four firearms from Alabama and transported them to Massachusetts. Because of the conduct by the defendant and his co-conspirators, dozens of firearms have been illegally distributed on the streets of Boston and surrounding communities. At least 10 of the firearms that were illegally brought from Alabama to Boston have been recovered in and around Boston, in the hands of individuals who were not permitted to have firearms. In one instance, one of the firearms the defendant and his co-conspirators distributed illegally was used in a shooting within 3 days of its purchase in Alabama and within 24 hours of Pringle's return to Massachusetts [Pringle is another alleged participant]; three other firearms purchased in Alabama were later found in the possession of individuals suspected of involvement in shootings or shots-fired incidents.

They added:

All three of the firearms that were purchased by Moore’s straw purchaser in Alabama on July 30, 2020, and transported to Boston by Pringle and Brown in August 2020, have been recovered in Boston – one on November 13, 2020 in the possession of a then-juvenile suspected of being involved in a shots-fired incident that day and two on December 17, 2020 in the possession of individuals observed fleeing the area of a ShotSpotter activation. ...

On December 13, 2020, then just six months past his 18th birthday, Brown was arrested by Boston Police for possession of a loaded Smith & Wesson Model M&P 40, .40 caliber firearm, which had been purchased by Moore’s straw purchaser on July 14, 2020 in Alabama and transported to Boston by Pringle. Police had responded to a call for a male matching Brown’s description in possession of a gun and located Brown at the specified location; the firearm was found in the back yard of the residence. Brown was later identified by a witness as the individual who had had the gun in his hand.

Brown's attorneys, however, called for 16 months - and said Brown had agreed to plead guilty in part so he would be transferred from state to federal prison.

Mr. Brown sought to get himself into federal custody because he recognizes that the federal conviction and sentence on this case is the most significant event of his young life, and that the only way that this time in custody will result in a positive change is if it serves to separate him from his prior associates and pattern of conduct.

Brown, they argued, realizes that, at 21, he is at a crossroads and that he realizes what he did was wrong and wants to get on a straight and narrow path, after a childhood where the death of his single mother, the aunt and uncle who raised him, knee problems that forced him out of the high-school basketball program he loved, ADHD and other problems led him the wrong way in life.

Jarmori's gravitation towards ROCA and later SSYI [Boston's Safe and Successful Youth Initiative program] both demonstrate his desire to develop positive influences and structure in his life. As a child, he sought out the opportunity he saw in these programs, but ultimately was derailed by the other challenges and influences in his life.

Pringle and another Boston man who was charged are currently behind bars awaiting trial. The Alabama man who organized the purchases there has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, the US Attorney's office says.