Keith Robert Marshall, 34, was a drug dealer who sold heroin and cocaine in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the Eastern District of Virginia. He sold heroin at a cost of $2,800 per ounce; a typical user amount of heroin is less than a gram. Over the course of several months in 2019, Marshall sold multiple ounces of heroin, as well as some cocaine, to an undercover officer.
“Marshall’s sentencing is an example of the exceptional collaboration and diligent work of our law enforcement and task force partners toward our shared goal of removing those who are the purveyors of instruments like ghost guns and illicit narcotics which often result in irreparable damage to our communities,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division. “Ghost guns, which are privately manufactured, are untraceable and unserialized firearms that when in the hands of criminals, present a serious danger to us all. The FBI remains steadfast in identifying and aggressively investigating those criminals who have a blatant disregard for the harm they are causing in communities around the country.”
The investigation into Marshall revealed that he had been frequenting a firearms store in Virginia. There, Marshall, a previously convicted felon, had been purchasing AR-15 pistol kits and Polymer 80 kits to make AR-15 pistols and Glock-style pistols. These kits are used to make guns without serial numbers and may be legally sold to anyone, regardless of whether they are prohibited from possessing firearms.
In December 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Marshall’s residence in Maryland. There, agents recovered a fully functional .40-caliber Polymer 80 Glock-style firearm with a 50-round agazine, as well as an AR-15 rifle. Agents also seized another five high-capacity magazines, various other gun magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition for both rifles and pistols. Agents additionally discovered that Marshall’s workspace, tools, and parts were dedicated to turning the gun kits into the fully functional weapons found in his residence.