Kissan Lynch, 25, of Jonesboro, Ga., was sentenced Friday by United States District Judge J. Owen Forrester on charges related to the theft of over 80 firearms stolen Dec. 5, 2007 from Autrey’s Armory, a federally licensed firearms dealer in Fayetteville. Lynch is the 12th of 13 defendants to be sentenced in the case.
Lynch was sentenced to 17 years 6 months in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. His is the stiffest sentence so far handed out in the weapons theft case.
Also known as “Big Boy,” Lynch pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer, conspiracy to receive, possess, conceal, store, and dispose of the stolen firearms; and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: On Dec. 5, 2007, at approximately 4:04 a.m., the monitored alarm system at “Autrey’s Armory,” 116 Bethea Road, Fayetteville, indicated a break-in.
The surveillance video revealed that at least six masked individuals entered the store. The individuals immediately proceeded to several gun counters, smashed the glass cases and removed a large number of firearms.
According to an earlier Citizen story about the burglary, the suspects used a stolen truck from Clayton County to pry the burglar bars off of the business to gain entry. Once inside they smashed glass cases and used bolt cutters to wrest the guns free, tossing them into a plastic garbage can. The whole burglary lasted just a few minutes.
According to the evidence, all of the 86 firearms were taken to an apartment and divided among seven of the co-defendants. The firearms were then sold to other individuals.
The break in the case for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office came because the burglars forgot one important item: the magazines for each of the weapons. None of the stolen guns had a magazine, also known as a clip. The burglars were reduced to having to buy magazines before they could fence them.
Autrey’s Armory determined that over 80 firearms were stolen by the burglars. An extensive ATF investigation resulted in the arrest of individuals involved in the break-in and distribution of the weapons.
The final defendant charged in the case, Earnest Ellison, 41, of Decatur, Georgia, awaits trial on related weapons theft charges.
Many of the thieves were members of the so-called Southside Mafia gang, according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
The rest of the defendants indicted by a federal grand jury in this case have now been convicted and sentenced. The following co-defendants were previously sentenced as follows:
• Anthony “2 Tall” Alston, 24, of Riverdale, Georgia, was sentenced to 4 years, 3 months in federal prison;
• Frederick “Fred” Anderson, 20, of College Park, Georgia, was sentenced to 1 year, 4 months in federal prison;
• Matthius Carr, 25, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison;
• Roy Daniely, 22, of Jonesboro, Georgia, was sentenced to 5 months in federal prison;
• Terry Davis, 24, of Shreveport, Louisiana, was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison;
• Cornelius “Trigger Boy” Heard, 22, of Riverdale, Georgia, was sentenced to 2 years, 10 months in federal prison;
• Melvin “Melvo” Johnson, 23, of Hampton, Georgia, was sentenced to 9 years, 7 months in federal prison;
• Brandon “Mickey Mouse” McClure, 22, of Jonesboro, Georgia, was sentenced to 10 years, 5 months in federal prison;
• Demario Smith, 21, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months in federal prison; and
• Roland “Gucchi” Williams, 21, of Riverdale, Georgia, was sentenced to 2 years, 6 months in federal prison.
After the case was broken by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, the case was investigated by Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Angela Marie Jordan prosecuted the case.
United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said of the case, “Our communities are still being flooded with stolen and illegally purchased weapons, and they often end up in the middle of violent crimes, not only here but in other parts of the country. Just one stolen weapon can account for multiple crimes. With this case involving 80 firearms and 13 defendants, the potential criminal damage was staggering. These criminals quickly enabled others to be armed criminals. The prison sentences reflect the need to take these defendants off the streets, and the guns they brought with them.”
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge, Gregory K. Gant said of the investigation and prosecution, “Once again, the combined efforts of our agents and the United States Attorney’s Office have successfully brought closure to a crime that fuels the cycle of violence that tears at the fabric of our community. The focus now is to continue to recover these firearms and remove the threat of their use by criminals to victimize our fellow citizens.”
