2 Men Sentenced For Gun Trafficking From Northern Virginia

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Two half-brothers will serve prison time for illegally trafficking guns from Virginia into DC and Maryland. Darius Antonio Giles, 22, was sentenced in Alexandria federal court to over two and a half years, and Daryl Antonio Pearce, 22, was sentenced to over a year.

Court documents say the men went to Virginia to acquire guns with the intention of selling them between October 2016 and February 2019. Prosecutors say they bought well over 33 guns in Virginia. The men used an unlawfully obtained Virginia Commercial Driver's License (CDL) to appear as a Virginia resident and purchase guns. Pearce and Giles took the guns back to Maryland and DC to sell to individuals for profit.

Law enforcement in DC and Maryland recovered at least 17 of the guns, including from a convicted felon. Undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Giles in February during an arranged gun purchase meeting.

The exact locations of the gun sales were not disclosed, but the scheme involved gun purchases in various towns in Northern Virginia and beyond. Here are the times and dates included in the indictment:

• Oct. 22, 2016: Ashland
• July 19, 2017; Aug. 15, 2017; Oct. 15,2017; Nov. 26, 2017: Arlington
• July 23, 2017: Bealton
• Aug. 24, 2017: Ashburn
• Aug. 29,2017: Fredericksburg
• Sept. 2, 2017: Leesburg
• Sept. 5, 2017; Dec. 5, 2017; Dec. 10, 2017: Mechanicsville
• Sept. 11, 2017: Manassas
• Sept. 11, 2017: Dulles
• Sept. 13, 2017: Centreville
• Sept. 15, 2017: Sterling
• Sept. 17, 2017: Stafford
• Sept. 20, 2017: Richmond
• Sept. 21, 2017: Petersburg
• Sept. 25, 2017; Oct. 9, 2017: Burke
• Oct. 13, 2017: Vienna
• Oct. 14, 2017: Fairfax
• Oct. 21,2017: Orange County, Virginia
• Nov. 12, 2017: Dumfries
• Dec. 15, 2017: Springfield
• Dec. 30, 2017: Charlottesville
• Feb. 18, 2019: Triangle
• Feb. 25, 2019: Falls Church (Giles arrested)