BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — Public Affairs Officer Lawrence Messina reported a Beckley woman was sentenced for her role in the Beckley-Philadelphia gun trafficking ring.

Sequoyah Swain, 22, of Beckley, was sentenced Friday, March 24, 2023, to five years of federal probation for her role in a conspiracy to traffic over 140 firearms from the Beckley area to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Swain admitted to recruiting straw purchasers to obtain firearms for a trafficking conspiracy led by Bisheem Jones.

Jones paid Swain with drugs and money to recruit straw purchasers. Swain also acted as an intermediary for Jones by accompanying straw purchasers to Beckley-area stores, telling them which firearms to buy, and taking the purchased firearms to Jones.

Swain pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another individual in making false statements in the acquisition of firearms. Swain is among 18 defendants who pleaded guilty in connection with the firearms trafficking.