Edmond Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Weapons to Middle East

OKLAHOMA CITY – RANDY LEW WILLIAMS, 57, of Edmond, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to illegally shipping firearms to the Middle East and two other firearms violations, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

On June 1, 2020, an Information was filed that charged Williams with violating the Arms Export Control Act, making a false statement to a firearms dealer, and possession of an unregistered firearm.  According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint filed on March 3, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Legal Attaché in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) notified the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office that a FedEx shipment had been seized in Dubai, UAE, on December 19, 2018.

The shipment contained multiple Glock pistols and firearms parts, and shipment records indicated the shipment was sent from Williams, at an address in Oklahoma City.  Records also indicated the shipment contained tools and that the intended recipient was located in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.  FBI authorities later learned that between January 2018 and October 2018, Williams received approximately $12,761.00 in wire transfers from Sweden.

Williams did not have a Federal Firearms License (FFL) from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) or authority from the Department of Defense to export defense articles (i.e., weapons) outside the United States.

Williams was also charged with knowingly making a false and fictitious statement to a firearms dealer in connection to his acquisition of three Glock pistols and two Glock pistol frames and was in possession of a 5.56 caliber rifle that had a barrel of less than 16 inches.

Today, Williams pleaded guilty to all three counts charged in the Information.  At sentencing, Williams faces up to twenty years in prison for the Arms Export Control Act violation and up to ten years in prison on each of the other two counts.  Sentencing will take place in approximately ninety days.

This case is a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Oklahoma City Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Dallas Field Division, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Oklahoma City Police Department, and the Edmond Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Dillon and Mark Stoneman prosecuted the case.