A Washington, D.C., man has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for stealing firearms from a Maryland gun store.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Xyavion Lawrence, 20, was sentenced for theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee’s inventory. Lawrence and another suspect broke into an Essex gun shop in Baltimore County in August 2019, officials said.
Surveillance footage showed Lawrence repeatedly backing a car into the store’s front door before going inside and taking the guns before fleeing in the car. Later, Lawrence showed several of the stolen firearms in a social media video while wearing the same clothes, mask and gloves used in the burglary, officials said. Investigators identified his forearm tattoo from the surveillance footage.
Lawrence's plea agreement states that the ankle monitor he was also wearing placed him at the gun store at the time of the burglary, officials said.
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Lawrence was carrying one of the stolen weapons from the burglary two days later when he was arrested, officials said. He told investigators that he stole six firearms from the store.
Lawrence was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
