Lake Worth Man Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison for Straw Purchasing Firearms
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Charles David Mobley, 50, of Lake Worth, to two years in federal prison for making a false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. Mobley entered a guilty plea on April 4, 2022.
According to court documents, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) identified Mobley as a potential black-market firearms dealer after law enforcement recovered several firearms purchased by Mobley in connection with separate criminal investigations. Undercover ATF agents subsequently engaged in five different straw purchases from Mobley between July 2021 and August 2021. For each purchase, Mobley went to federally licensed firearms dealers, bought firearms requested by the undercover agents, and falsely certified in ATF paperwork he was purchasing the firearms for himself. Mobley subsequently provided the undercover agents with the purchased firearms. In total, Mobley straw-purchased nine firearms for the undercover ATF agents, some of which had large-capacity magazines attached.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David B. Mesrobian.
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. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
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