Georgia Man Sentenced to Prison for Selling Firearms to Felons to Support Violent Ku Klux Klan Group
Michael Lee Fullmore Sentenced to 52 Months’ Imprisonment
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 20, 2013 |
ABINGDON, VA—United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy announced today that a Georgia man and member of the Ku Klux Klan has been sentenced to imprisonment in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon.
On December 19, 2013, Michael Lee Fullmore, 30, of Claxton, Georgia, was sentenced to 52 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to two counts of providing a firearm to a convicted felon.
“Those of us who work in law enforcement will do all we can to keep firearms away from prohibited persons,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “Mr. Fullmore ignored that important restriction and has now been held accountable. The fact that his fraudulent gun sales were motivated by a desire to finance hate crimes makes his conduct more despicable. ”
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing and sentencing by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, Fullmore, a member of the Georgia Knight Riders of the Ku Klux Klan, came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation when he began to take steps to establish a more violent and radical sub-group of the Ku Klux Klan, which he intended would commit violent crimes against minorities.
Fullmore believed that this organization could be supported by selling firearms to convicted felons and militia groups. On numerous occasions, Fullmore sold firearms, including an AR-15 assault rifle and an AK-47 assault rifle with an obliterated serial number, to a convicted felon in Georgia and Virginia who was working with the FBI as a confidential informant. On one occasion, Fullmore also sold marijuana and firearms to an undercover law enforcement officer. Fullmore was arrested by the FBI in June 2013 after he stated to the confidential informant that he wanted to firebomb a Catholic church in the Claxton, Georgia-area based upon its ties to the Hispanic community.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Atlanta and Richmond Divisions and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon is prosecuting the case.