Department of Justice

HAMMOND- Keshaun Brownlee, 22 years old, of Merrillville, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon on his plea of guilty to selling a firearm to a known felon, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Brownlee was sentenced to 41 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on March 4, 2020, Brownlee sold a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a high-capacity (30 round) magazine to an individual he knew was a convicted felon, which is prohibited under federal law. At the time of the transaction, Brownlee himself was under indictment for a felony offense, and as such, he illegally received the firearm he subsequently sold to the felon.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hammond Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Toth.

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.