Grand Blanc man charged with buying guns for others in illegal 'straw purchases'

FOX 2 - A Genesee County man has been federally indicted for illegally buying guns for others - including felons, by the US Attorney's Office for Michigan's Eastern District.

The backstory:

Many of the firearms allegedly bought by Kobe Y. Patterson, of Grand Blanc, were later recovered at several crime scenes, say investigators.

Patterson, 24, is charged with buying several guns from Michigan firearms dealers for others. At the time he bought them, he claimed the purchases were for him.  

Patterson was also charged with illegally possessing a machine gun.  

Gun buyers who lie to a firearms dealers to buy a gun for someone else is called a "straw purchase."

Most often straw purchases occur because either the actual buyer cannot pass the background check, or the real buyer wants to avoid having their name associated with the purchase.

"Straw purchasing is a serious threat to public safety because it undermines background check laws and contributes to the illegal gun market," said a release from the US Attorney's Office.

In 2023 Detroit Police Officer Loren Courts was ambushed and shot murdered by a 19-year-old gunman who had another person buy the gun he later used, in a straw purchase.

"Patterson’s straw purchases are dangerous because they undermine our ability to keep firearms away from criminals and other prohibited persons," said U.S. Attorney Jerome F Gorgon in a release. "If you straw purchase a gun, we will prosecute you."
  
ATF Special Agent in Charge James Deir said that Patterson is a gun violence enabler.

"He represents the worst in our community by trafficking firearms to people unable to legally obtain and possess them," he said in a release.  "The message is clear: If personal greed takes you to a place where you illegally traffic firearms, your next destination on your greed journey is federal prison."