Proud Boys Member Sentenced To 87 Months In Jail On Weapons Charges

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A member of the violent, far-right organization known as the Proud Boys has been sentenced to over seven years in jail on weapons charges. The individual in question is 38-year-old Jonathan M. Cuney, whose sentence includes 87 months followed by three years of supervised release. In an earlier, related case, Cuney had previously been sentenced to a little over three years in prison on weapons charges related to his trafficking of guns from which serial numbers had been “obliterated,” per a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York. These serial number-less weapons — colloquially known as “ghost guns” — are difficult for authorities to get a handle on in terms of figuring out their ownership, where they came from, and the like.

Cuney’s new offenses include “unlawfully possessing, as a felon, a Springfield Armory rifle and an FMK Firearms Inc. AR-15-style rifle receiver/frame, and… possessing three unregistered silencers, between September 9, 2019 and November 14, 2019,” that press release explains. That’s far from it, though — he “also admitted that from at least August 2018 until November 12, 2019, he purchased firearms parts from several dozen online retailers, and had these items shipped to East Greenbush[, New York]; Willits, California (where he maintained a residence); and Providence, Rhode Island (where he formerly maintained a legitimate firearms business).” (That’s also in the description of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.) He used these materials to put together ghost guns and silencers.

Cuney was also found to have unlawfully possessed thousands of rounds of ammunition. Federal Judge Frederick J. Scullin, Jr., who handled Cuney’s sentencing, observed that “ghost guns are killing people on the streets every day in this country.” Notably, Cuney had trafficked ghost guns while also maintaining a front as a legitimate, appropriately licensed weapons dealer before his older case. Cuney is a veteran, having served in the Marines, but Scullin told him that “any credit you might get for being a veteran is outweighed by your conduct as a criminal.”

Cuney maintained storage units including a New York facility where authorities discovered “two rifles, one revolver, four serialized AR-15-style rifle receivers/frames, two completed ghost guns, five pistol parts kits, two completed silencers and enough parts to build more than ten silencers, and an assorted quantity of firearm parts and accessories – of which five would be classified as machine guns under federal law – and 3,250 rounds of assorted rifle and pistol ammunition,” according to that press release. Issues go on from there. Read more at this link.

A number of individuals associated with the Proud Boys have been caught and charged in connection to the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters in January — which Trump has repeatedly seemed eager to justify. It’s not as though the savage violence that took place there is a secret, but the ex-president has nevertheless insisted upon characterizing what happened that day as a mere “protest.” Trump has stated that observers’ “hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election” — and when he pushes stuff like this, it’s organizations including the one that Cuney apparently felt at home with that he is defending.

Featured Image (edited): via Anthony Crider on Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons License