Seven Sentenced After 240 Guns Stolen from Indy

INDIANAPOLIS — Seven men are facing several years in prison or on probation for stealing 240 guns from an Indianapolis shipping center and selling them.

Court documents say 33-year-old Bruce Williams and 30-year-old Ryan Hurt, both working at the shipping center, were the “masterminds” behind the scheme. They recruited others, including 32-year-old Malyk Mendez and convicted felon 33-year-old Antonio Grant, to help. The stolen guns were then sold to people like 23-year-old Kevin Jones Jr., and convicted felons 37-year-old Dominique Ellison and 27-year-old Zackary Doss. Jones and Doss then sold many of those guns to other people.

Between January and March 2022, the group left with 240 guns from four separate shipments headed for different states. The whole operation started to unravel when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) found out about this.

According to ATF, the stolen guns are:

• 174 9mm semi-automatic handguns
• 13 .38 caliber revolvers
• 2 .22 caliber revolvers
• 8 10mm semi-automatic handguns
• 5 semi-automatic rifles
• 38 .45 caliber semi-automatic handguns

The ATF says sometimes Williams and Hurt would keep the guns to themselves.

As of May 5th this year, only 61 of the 240 guns have been retrieved. The ATF says many of those guns were seen at various crime spots, including Indianapolis, Lafayette, Gary, Chicago, Oklahoma, and Florida.

The men who were charged include:

• 27-year-old Zackary Doss: 2.5 years in prison and three years of supervised release
• 37-year-old Dominique Ellison: 1.5 years in prison and three years of supervised release
• 33-year-old Antonio Grant: three years of probation
• 30-year-old Ryan Hurt: 4.5 years in prison and three years of supervised release
• 23-year-old Kevin Jones Jr.: 3.5 years in prison and three years of supervised release
• 32-year-old Malyk Mendez: 1.5 years in prison and one year of supervised release
• 33-year-old Bruce Williams: 9 years in prison and three years of supervised release

The charges varied, with many facing conspiracy to receive, own, store, or sell stolen guns, and some also charged with possession of a gun by a felon.