Detroit Man Sentenced For Theft
Lamont Sapp, 42, of Detroit was sentenced today to 45 months imprisonment as a result of his guilty plea to aiding and abetting the theft of 27 firearms during a 2003 robbery, United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced. Joining in the announcement was Special Agent-In-Charge Thomas E. Brandon, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). On December 17, 2007, Sapp admitted to aiding and abetting two others during an October 16, 2003 robbery of a Brown Bear Sporting Goods store in Chesterfield Township, a licensed federal firearms dealer, before United States District Judge Patrick Duggan.
After the robbery was discovered, a Chesterfield Township Police K-9 named Chaos followed the robbers’ scent to a pedestrian bridge at Nursery and 21 Mile Rd. There, police found a tied-up sweatshirt concealing 23 stolen handguns. Another four handguns were located nearby.
That night, Sapp was stopped by Chesterfield Township police officers driving a dark blue Mercury Marauder. Inside the vehicle, police found a pry bar, a twenty-four inch screwdriver, a two pound brass hammer, and a pair of brown cotton work gloves that connected Sapp to the robbery.
United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said, “Fortunately, the 27 stolen weapons that the defendant heisted in 2003 never made it to the streets of our communities, due to the outstanding work of the Chesterfield Township Police Department. Now, thanks to the combined work of local law enforcement and the ATF, one of the people responsible for the theft of the guns has been brought to justice.”
In January 1986, Sapp, then a member of the Eight-Mile Smurfs street gang, was convicted in Detroit Recorder’s Court of murdering a 17-year-old rival gang member in a drive-by shooting. He served 17 years in prison and was released in January 2003, just ten months before the robbery.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Operation TIDE is the unprecedented, long-term law enforcement and community collaboration where federal, state, county and local law enforcement officials meet regularly and work in cooperation to reduce violent crimes and prevent recidivism by focusing on the “worst of the worst” in Northwest Detroit, Detroit’s largest police district.
Other PSN Operation TIDE Task Force partners include the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Citizens with information concerning illegal guns, gangs with guns, armed drug trafficking or the trafficking of illegal guns are encouraged to call 800-ATF-GUNS. Callers can remain anonymous. This number is managed and answered by law enforcement, ATF agents who work directly with local police departments. For information about Project Safe Neighborhoods call 1-800-891-8881 or visit http://www.psnworks.org/.
Stealing firearms from a gun dealer is punishable by up to five years imprisonment. No sentencing date has yet been set.The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Leonid Feller.
