176 firearms indictments filed in northern Ohio last year

CLEVELAND — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio filed 176 illegal firearms indictments last year as part of Project Safe Neighborhood, U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach announced today.

“This office places a high priority on keeping firearms out of the hands of those who are forbidden by law from obtaining them,” Dettelbach said. “Whether it is a person using a gun to commit a violent crime, a felon illegally obtaining a firearm or a straw purchaser trying to circumvent the law, we will aggressively pursue those who would violate our nation’s firearms laws.”

Broken down by geography in the district, the most indictments filed came out of the Cleveland office, with 86. That was followed by the Toledo office (31), Akron office (30) and Youngstown office (29).

There were 146 defendants sentenced last year for firearms crimes and the average sentence was more than six years in prison (73.9 months).

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