Jakil Deandre Bond, 28, of Williamston, was sentenced to 141 months in federal prison for illegal firearm trafficking and drug distribution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced Friday.
Bond, a validated gang member, coordinated the purchase of firearms through co-defendants and straw purchasers Malik Jaree Bazemore and Ti’quiran Rodgers, who is also a validated gang member, according to department officials.
“We are targeting the violent gangs and reckless gunrunners fueling violence in our cities,” U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley Jr. said in a statement.
“This gun trafficker formed an iron pipeline of firepower from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., where shootings fueled further gang violence. Gun traffickers and straw purchasers are on notice – you are on the pathway to federal prison.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that from 2019 to November 2021, Bond, Bazemore, Rodgers, and Barron Nathaniel Shaw conspired to traffic over 50 firearms from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., and other East Coast areas.