Department of Justice

FORT WAYNE- Andrew Thompson, age 49, of Fort Wayne, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Holly A. Brady, on his plea of guilty to the sale of firearms to a convicted felon, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Thompson was sentenced to 63 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in this case, in late 2018 through early 2019, two individuals working with law enforcement, each of whom had previously been convicted of a felony offense, purchased a total of five firearms from Thompson. Thompson admitted he sold or traded the firearms for drugs. At least twenty other firearms originally purchased by Thompson have been recovered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois and other locations from prohibited persons, traffic stops and search warrant executions.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Nokes.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.