AG Jennings announces 76 felony gun charges in Dover

Attorney General Kathy Jennings on Wednesday announced 77 charges against nine defendants accused of conducting straw purchases of at least 12 firearms in the Dover area.

Of the 77 charges, 76 are felony charges.

“There’s no question that guns — and by extension, gun trafficking — are driving violent crime in Delaware,” Jennings said during a press conference. “Straw purchases may appear at face value to be a nonviolent offense, but the reality is that they are deadly. Guns are meant to do one thing, period, and that’s what’s at stake here.”

Investigators found that co-defendants Nassir Williams, Jyheim Spencer, and John Lassiter — all of whom are prohibited from purchasing firearms — conspired to find subjects over the age of 21 with no criminal records to buy guns for them and their criminal associates.

Williams, Spencer and Lassiter would direct straw purchasers to obtain a credit card, order firearms from an online retailer, and then have them delivered to a federal firearms licensee in Delaware. 

The purchaser would then retrieve the firearms, keeping one for themselves as “payment” for the transaction, and turning the rest over to Williams, Spencer and Lassiter, who would then sell them to their associates.

One firearm recovered from the investigation is alleged to have been used in a shooting, with another recovered from a suspected gang member.

The charges and allegations are as follows:

 

Nasir Williams

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Nine counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Five counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited, a Class D Felony
• Four counts of Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony
• Four counts of Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony
• Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon, a Class G Felony
• Possession of Marijuana, a civil violation

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Jyheim Spencer

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Five counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Two counts of Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony
• Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony

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John G. Lassiter

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Four counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Three counts of Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony
• Three counts of Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony

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Nakiya Goicuria

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Two counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Two counts of Giving a Firearm to Person Prohibited, a Class F Felony
• Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony
• Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony

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Naquan Peace

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Three counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Two counts of Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony
• Two counts of Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony

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Kylen Thomas

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Two counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony
• Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony

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Tuscan Wright

• Racketeering, a Class B Violent Felony
• Three counts of Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony
• Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony 

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Darvis J. Epiewane

• Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony
• Making a False Written Statement, a Class G Felony

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Kaharri Jackson

• Engaging in a Firearm Transaction on Behalf of Another, a Class E Felony
• Conspiracy 2nd Degree, a Class G Felony

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Williams was taken into custody on May 12, 2022, on the sealed indictment and presented before a Superior Court commissioner. He is held at Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $60,000 cash bail.

Lassiter was taken into custody on May 26, 2022, on the sealed indictment and presented before a Superior Court commissioner.  He is held at Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $30,000 cash bail.

Spencer was taken into custody on June 1, 2022 and will be arraigned before a Superior Court commissioner.

“Let this be a reminder of the severe consequences that await anyone who would become involved in straw purchasing,” Jennings said. “We will continue to fight for justice for the victims impacted by gun violence and by the gun trade and for improved policies that can prevent these illegal purchases from ever happening in the first place. The word needs to get out that we’re serious about prosecuting straw purchasers.”

Dover Police Chief Thomas Johnson said Delawareans should think twice before purchasing firearms for people who are prohibited from owning them. 

“I’d like to speak for a brief moment directly to the individuals that might face a decision in their future,” Johnson said. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being in a relationship with an individual that is struggling to do the right thing in life. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, you might be a role model or support for that person.”

“However, you may come to find that you are asked to do something and then you have to make a choice,” he continued. “Read the writing on the wall…You will become an accessory to the harm that follows. If you don’t say yes — if you don’t walk into that gun shop — if you don’t sign that piece of paper, you get to keep your life the way it is right now.”

Criminal charges in an indictment are merely an accusation, and the defendants listed are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

Deputy Attorney General Kevin Smith secured the charges following a collaborative investigation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Dover Police Department Drugs, Vice, and Organized Crime Unit, and Delaware State Police.

Click here to read the indictment.