A Detroit man has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for stealing nearly 50 firearms from a gun store in Dearborn Heights. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison, who was joined by James Deir, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).
Deon Bell, aged 29, received a 90-month sentence that will run consecutively with a 102-month sentence previously imposed on him for an armed robbery at a T-Mobile store.
Court documents revealed that Bell recruited three young men, including one juvenile, to help him steal guns from the licensed gun store. They stole a car and crashed it into the front of the store before taking 22 weapons. On the following night, Bell repeated the crime with two other juveniles and stole another 25 weapons after crashing another car into the store. Following this second burglary, Bell led police officers on a high-speed chase. Some stolen guns have been recovered in other investigations; however, many remain missing.
Bell has an extensive criminal history that includes drug trafficking, carrying concealed weapons, criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, and armed robbery.
"Stealing cars, crashing them into gun stores to rob them, and putting nearly 50 stolen guns on the street endangered our community in so many ways," said U.S. Attorney Ison. "Worse still is the fact that Bell recruited juveniles to commit these crimes with him."
James Deir added: "Deon Bell is a menace to our community’s safety... Burglaries of federal firearms licensees continue to be one of ATF’s top priorities."
The case was investigated by ATF agents alongside Dearborn Heights Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Ramamurthy, Meghan Bean, and Hank Moon.