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A North Vernon man was sentenced to four years in federal prison for allegedly reselling more than 1,300 firearms as an unlicensed gun dealer.
David Joseph Mull, 52, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana to unlicensed dealing in firearms in January.
U.S. District Judge James Sweeney sentenced Mull April 30 to four years in prison and an additional two years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Mull sold hundreds of firearms without obtaining a dealing license.
He was served a cease-and-desist letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2016, putting him on notice that he needed a federal firearms license to be in the business of selling firearms.
Despite the cease-and-desist, Mull continued to run his business, evading detection by purchasing firearms from other private sellers at gun shows across the U.S. instead of buying from licensed federal dealers, court documents stated.
These dealers are required to generate sales reports when individuals purchase more than one handgun within a five-day period. If a firearm is recovered in a crime, the ATF can determine who originally purchased that gun.
Mull’s main customer was allegedly involved in illegal firearms trafficking across state lines. According to court documents, the firearms that customer purchased from Mull were transported to Mexico.
From 2019 to 2023, Mull sold over 500 firearms, including semiautomatic handguns and AR-style rifles, to this customer, earning $350,000 in sales, court documents state.
At the time of sale, Mull knew or had reason to believe the firearms would be transported to Mexico, investigators said.
Mull also ran an online firearms business during the time, selling approximately 800 firearms to buyers across the country, earning more than $174,000 in sales.
“Anyone who engages in the business of selling firearms is required to have a license and follow regulations ensuring those firearms are not going to individuals who are prohibited from possessing them,” said Thomas Greco, Acting Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Columbus Field Division, in a news release. “In this case, the defendant clearly profited from the firearms business without the required license and responsibility to keep our community safe.”
The case is United States of America v. David Joseph Mull, 1:23-cr-94.
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