A woman pleaded guilty to 11 felonies after she bought 55 guns under false pretenses to sell to a California gang.
Jennifer Scruggs, 36, pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 in the U.S. District Court in Portland to one count of conspiracy to commit firearms offenses and 10 counts of a false statement during acquisition of a firearm from a licensed firearm dealer.
Scruggs, from Turner, has a plea agreement that says the maximum prison sentence for the conspiracy charge is five years and the maximum sentence for the false statement charges is 10 years.
For four months in 2022, Scruggs bought guns from federally licensed dealers and sold them to two people who said they are members of the Crips, a street gang in southern California, according to the prosecution’s version of events.
Those purchases are known as straw purchases and are illegal under federal law. Of the 55 guns Scruggs bought, only three have been recovered by police, according to court records.
A form from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives asks if the person buying the gun is the actual purchaser. Scruggs said she was the buyer, despite intending to give it to other people who would give her cash and crack cocaine in return, according to court records.
Scruggs bought some of the guns at Ballstown Firearms in Whitefield, G3 Firearms in Turner and J.T. Reid’s Gun Shop in Auburn. The two unnamed co-conspirators went to a Bucksport Gun Show in March 2022 and took pictures of some of the guns they wanted, the statement of facts said. Scruggs then bought the guns at the show.
For other purchases, pictures of the guns were sent through Facebook Messenger. In one message Scruggs told a co-conspirator, “they’re all yours after this lol.”
In April 2022, a co-conspirator rented a car from the Portland International Jetport, naming Scruggs and her boyfriend as authorized drivers. They drove from Maine to California and met the second co-conspirator who flew. They made the drive again in June, per court records.
Scruggs mainly bought handguns, as well as a couple semi-automatic rifles, a few revolvers and pistols that accept AK magazines with extended barrels.
Los Angeles Police responded to a report of a gun being fired in the air and someone yelling “Crips,” in August 2022. The gun was bought by Scruggs at J.T. Reid’s Gun Shop in May of that year.
A gun used during a February 2023 armed robbery in Los Angeles was also bought by Scruggs for the co-conspirators. That gun was bought in June 2022 at G3 Firearms.
No sentencing date is scheduled for Scruggs.
