The United States Department of Justice said in a statement released yesterday that court records showed that the defendant, 25-year-old Laurel Echezonam, entered the United States illegally over the southern border in 2022.
Later, immigration officers found out that Echezonam was a Nigerian citizen who was not legally in the US.
The DOJ said that Echezonam went to multiple gun stores on June 7 and 8, 2024, to try to buy a gun. He lived in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the time.
The statement claimed, “When Echezonam filled out the required form to buy guns, he lied about his immigration status to trick the gun dealer into selling him the guns.”
It also said that Echezonam “was denied the firearms because of his immigration status and was later arrested by immigration officials.”
The statement said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is looking into the matter and that Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lynn Murray and C. Brett Grantham are in charge of the prosecution.
The DOJ said that Echezonam pleaded guilty in a federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi on Monday, December 15.
The department said, “He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2026, and could get up to ten years in prison.”
The DOJ also said that “a federal district court judge will decide the sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.”
Operation Take Back America is a federal Department of Justice program that focuses on enforcing immigration laws, fighting organized crime, and stopping violent crime.
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