Columbus man sentenced for role in large-scale gun trafficking operation

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Columbus man who led a large-scale gun trafficking operation was sentenced to six years in prison on Monday. 

Keith Davenport III, 22, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

In 2022, Davenport and five others used stolen credit card information to place orders online for firearms, then sold them on the black market, according to a news release from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Court documents allege that after the group ordered the firearms, they had the guns transferred to federally authorized sellers. Davenport or one of his co-conspirators would then pick up the weapons and put false information on the federal firearms forms.

Davenport ran the scheme by obtaining the stolen credit card information, ordering the firearms online, recruiting customers and helping arrange the resale of firearms. He was responsible for at least 42 illegal firearm transfers, and the scheme involved the attempted fraudulent purchase of more than 200 firearms, court records claim. 

One firearm was found shortly after it was purchased when Columbus police executed a search warrant in a drug trafficking investigation, the news release said. 

Davenport also has pending charges out of Medina County for allegedly breaking into a post office and assaulting two police officers and a hospital security officer. While out on bond, he was charged with domestic violence and assault. His bond has since been revoked.