A U.S. Army Major, Kojo Owusu Dartey, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his involvement in a firearms smuggling operation to Ghana.
Dartey, 42, was convicted of multiple offenses, including making false declarations before the court, conspiracy, dealing in firearms without a license, delivering firearms without notice to the carrier, smuggling goods from the United States, and illegally exporting firearms without a license.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed that Dartey was found guilty by a jury after trial on April 23, 2024.
According to court records and trial evidence, he provided a tip that led to the prosecution of a 16-defendant marriage fraud scheme involving soldiers at Fort Liberty and foreign nationals from Ghana.
During the trial of U.S. v. Agyapong between June 28 and July 2, 2021, Dartey also lied under oath about his sexual relationship with a defense witness.
Additionally, he purchased seven firearms in the Fort Liberty area and directed a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to buy three more firearms and send them to him in North Carolina.
Dartey then concealed the firearms inside blue barrels beneath rice and household goods. With the help of an Army Chief Warrant Officer, he smuggled the barrels out of the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, on a container ship bound for the Port of Tema in Ghana.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) intercepted the shipment and reported the seizure to the DEA attaché in Ghana and the ATF Baltimore Field Division.
Announcing the sentencing, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Daniel Bubar, emphasized the severity of the offenses.
The case was investigated by the ATF, the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II presided over the sentencing, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Diaz prosecuted the case.
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