09-05-2025
Alaska man sentenced for trafficking guns to Sacramento
( — An Alaska man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Wednesday after he was found guilty of buying guns in his home state and trafficking them to Sacramento, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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According to the DOJ, Cornelius Smith, 34, legally purchased 28 guns between February 2021 and April 2022. In filling out forms required for some of the purchases, he indicated he was not buying the guns for someone else.
Smith then travelled to Sacramento with the guns, and 10 days later, one of the guns was recovered near the capital city, the DOJ said.
Half of the 28 guns Smith purchased were found in California, 'nearly all' in the Sacramento area.
The DOJ said the firearms have been linked to attempted homicides, robberies and gang-affiliated shootings.
The other 14 guns have not been recovered.
'Mr. Smith deliberately purchased firearms in Alaska for the sole purpose of illegally trafficking them to prohibited individuals in California, and those firearms directly contributed to gun and gang violence in and around the Sacramento area,' said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. 'Let this conviction and sentence highlight that the straw purchase of firearms in Alaska – especially for the purpose of supplying the firearms to violent criminals – will be prosecuted.'
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Smith was convicted on 11 of 12 counts of firearms trafficking in November. In addition to serving two and a half years in prison, he is required to serve three years on supervised release and complete 120 hours of community service.
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