Two Richmond residents and one Maryland man have been indicted on federal counts of conspiracy to traffic firearms purchased from registered dealers in Virginia to those forbidden from owning guns, prosecutors revealed Wednesday.
Moniqua Jefferson, 31, and Valentino Hall, 28, both of Richmond, and Derrick Boyd Jr., 32, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, were detained at their homes and appeared in court in the District of Columbia. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered that the defendants be held pending a detention hearing on Thursday.
The indictment, released in the District of Columbia, says that Jefferson and Hall purchased over 22 weapons from licensed merchants in the Richmond region between September 2022 and September 2024. The couple then allegedly sold the weapons to others who were not legally allowed to acquire guns, including minors and convicted felons, for cash.
The indictment alleges that Hall and Jefferson corresponded with consumers on a daily basis to dodge federal weapons rules. In exchange for cash, they reportedly purchased firearms and delivered them to co-conspirators, including Boyd, on several occasions. Boyd once accompanied Jefferson to a licensed Richmond gun dealership, where she bought a Ruger handgun. Boyd later wired cash to Jefferson that exceeded the weapon’s selling price.
The allegations state that on June 6, 2024, Jefferson purchased a firearm, which was seized just over two weeks later from an underage individual in Washington, D.C. The authorities later seized additional firearms purchased by the defendants from individuals not legally permitted to possess them in Maryland and the District.
The case is being prosecuted under the Make D.C. Safe Again project, a federal law enforcement program focused on reducing gun crime and prosecuting firearm-related laws in the nation’s capital.
All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to traffic weapons and are being held in custody pending further procedures.
