Last November, a Michigan man pled guilty to kidnapping the manager of a sporting goods store at gunpoint as part of a conspiracy to take more than 100 weapons from the business.
Darnell Bishop, 33, faces life in prison after agreeing to a plea deal on Tuesday that included pleading guilty to kidnapping and brandishing a handgun during a violent crime on November 16, 2023, according to a Department of Justice news release.
Bishop’s brother and accomplice, Dontrell Nance, pled guilty to the same crimes in April and is scheduled to be sentenced later this month, according to the DOJ. As part of the settlement, Bishop admitted to investigators that he and Nance went to the home of the manager of Dunham’s Sports in Benton Harbor and shackled and blindfolded him at gunpoint before transporting him someplace and forcing him to disclose the code that disables the store’s alarm.
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The two men then went to a sporting goods store, where Bishop claimed to have stolen two coolers, sunglasses, and 123 handguns while Nance remained in the car with the store manager, according to The Associated Press, which also said that video of the theft was in evidence.
Law enforcement has subsequently recovered the firearms, which the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives assessed were worth more than $100,000.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten stated that his office is “laser-focused” on pursuing those “driving gun violence in our communities.”
“Darnell Bishop’s brazen crimes, if successful, would have flooded the streets of Benton Harbor and beyond with illegal firearms,” Totten told the audience. “I’m grateful to our law enforcement partners for their swift investigative work that put a stop to this criminal scheme” FOXNEWS Reported.
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James Deir, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Division, stated that armed robberies of Federal Firearms License dealers are “one of ATF’s top priorities” and that Tuesday’s plea was “the best-case scenario” for dealers and workers.
“The message continues to be clear: There is no place in our community for illegal firearms traffickers and those who choose to target and victimize business owners and employees who are just trying to provide for their families,” Deir told reporters.
Bishop’s sentence date has yet to be revealed.