Four men in federal weapons conspiracy case

Four men face a 20-count federal indictment involving the sale of as many as 323 guns over the last four years in eastern Tennessee.

Kevin Dawson, 40, of Ooltewah, first came before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan K. Lee on May 23 to face a criminal complaint that was sent to the federal grand jury for indictment.

The grand jury indicted Dawson and three other men on charges they conspired to, and sold weapons without a federal firearms license and to people prohibited from purchasing weapons.

The original complaint alleged that Dawson sold or traded firearms and ammunition to Jesse Mathews, who police have charged in the April 2, 2011 shooting death of Chattanooga police Sgt. Tim Chapin. Mathews faces the death penalty in a state court trial scheduled for January.

Dawson, Jack Wardlaw, 65, of Columbia, Tenn., and brothers Carl Monroe, 67, and Richard Monroe, 48, both of Athens, Tenn., face an Aug. 20 trial date on the charges against them.

If convicted, Dawson faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, Carl Monroe faces 10 years, Richard Monroe and Wardlaw each face up to five years.

For more details see tomorrow's Times Free Press.

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