The charges are the result of an anti-violence initiative aimed at combating gun violence, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday.
Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit was among the local, state and federal officials who announced the indictments in downtown Cincinnati.
“Like many other urban communities across our country, the city of Hamilton has been hit with an uptick in gun violence. The indictment announced today (Tuesday) is just one of the ways Hamilton PD is hitting back and will continue to hit back to place these repeat offenders behind bars,” Bucheit said. “We will be working with our state, local, and federal partners to take a hard line against what amounts to a handful of individuals in our community that are fueling violence by illegally possessing guns, participating in criminal gangs, and selling drugs.”
Bucheit pointed to a incentive started through the attorney general’s office in which chronic offenders were given help to leave a life on crime. Those who didn’t comply were told federal charges could result.
The 15 defendants named represent the first group of alleged habitual offenders indicted as part of the initiative, according to a press release.
Officials assured there would be more.
“This is the beginning of this cooperative work,” said Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. He added there is “no easy fix to violence.”
Officials said the strategy of collaboration included a focus by law enforcement agencies to identify those who consistently use firearms to commit crimes, who habitually possess illegal firearms, and who present a clear threat to the safety of the community.
Some of those indicted are armed robbery suspects, and some have as many as three violent felony crimes in their past.
Don Soranno, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, said if convicted of the federal crimes, the men will be sent to federal prisons far away to service sentences so they can not continue to work their networks through associates.
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, depending on the section of the federal law, could carry up to a 20-year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine and up to a lifetime of supervised release.
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