(FOX40.COM) — A Sacramento man who was responsible for purchasing and shipping hundreds of firearms from Georgia to California — including some that ended up in the hands of convicted felons — has been sentenced to prison.

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Jerrell Lawson, 35, was sentenced to 17 years and five months in prison for conspiracy to unlawfully deal in firearms, unlawfully dealing in firearms, transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident, unlawful mailing of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced.

Lawson and nine co-defendants were charged in August 2023 with various firearms offenses relating to interstate firearm dealing. Lawson’s co-defendants have all pleaded guilty and been sentenced.

Between November 2019 and March 2022, Lawson was responsible for arranging and buying more than 500 firearms — worth more than $300,000 — in Georgia and shipping them to California, where his co-conspirators, acting as sub-distributors, sold them on the streets, prosecutors said.

Lawson would broker the firearm transactions in Georgia over the internet, while co-defendant Malek Williams, a Georgia resident, would pick up the guns in person and mail them to locations in California at Lawson’s direction.

Some of the guns, including some that prosecutors said were “particularly dangerous,” such as machine guns, went to convicted felons.

The investigation began when a gun used in a shooting in California was traced to Georgia, then to Lawson’s organization. Prosecutors said Lawson and his team used coded language to traffic guns and money using a variety of financial institutions.

Packages seized by investigators destined for Lawson and co-conspirators contained guns, ammunition, knives and brass knuckles, among other things.

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