North Vernon Man Charged With Engaging in an Unlicensed Firearms Dealing Business After Selling More Than 500 Guns for Over $350,000
INDIANAPOLIS- A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging David Joseph Mull, 51, of North Vernon, Indiana, on one count of unlicensed firearm dealing.
As alleged in the indictment, Mull is responsible for selling more than 500 firearms in exchange for over $350,000 to Individual A, and 90 firearms in exchange for $56,850 to Individual B. The firearms were allegedly purchased by Mull from gun shows and sold to other individuals. Mull was allegedly aware that the firearms he sold would be transported to Mexico.
On May 25, 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued Mull with a cease-and-desist letter advising him that it was unlawful to engage in the business of dealing firearms without a license.
During a firearms sale on March 9, 2023, Individual B asked Mull why he did not have a brick-and-mortar business, to which Mull replied, “Like a store? I don't want nobody to know. I’m probably like you, I don’t want nobody to know about it. Hopefully we can continue to do a bunch of business; I’ll keep on getting stuff.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division; Justin Campbell, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Chicago Field Office; and Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Indianapolis Field Office made the announcement.
“Firearms trafficking investigations are a priority of the Department of Justice, because we know that illegal gun sales fuel violence in our communities and around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Myers. “We will continue to work with the ATF, IRS, DEA, and all our law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute illegal gun trafficking.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case. If convicted, Mull faces up to five years in federal prison. The government also seeks to forfeit over 1,000 firearms seized from Mull as property involved in the charged offense. A federal district court judge will determine the actual sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelsey L. Massa and Michelle P. Brady, who are prosecuting this case.
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
An indictment or criminal complaint are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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