Baltimore Man Sentenced for Role in Multi-State Firearm Trafficking Operation in Connection With HSTF Case

Baltimore, Maryland - A Baltimore man is headed to federal prison in connection with a multi-state firearm trafficking operation.

U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin sentenced Rodney Allen Farrar, 36, today, to 100 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a firearms trafficking conspiracy.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Charles Doerrer, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) - Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Christopher R. Heck, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - Maryland; Colonel Michael A. Jackson, Superintendent, Maryland State Police (MSP); Secretary Carolyn J. Scruggs, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS); Commissioner Richard Worley, Baltimore Police Department (BPD); Chief George Nader, Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD); and Chief Estella Patterson, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).

According to the guilty plea, in December of 2023, ATF special agents began investigating Farrar's co-conspirator, Brian Keith Adams, 35, of Baltimore, Maryland, after law enforcement suspected he was trafficking firearms to the Baltimore area from North and South Carolina. During the investigation, agents learned through physical surveillance and transactions with undercover agents that Farrar conspired with and aided Adams in trafficking firearms. Farrar does not hold a federal firearms license and is prohibited from possessing firearms.

Between February and June 2024, the co-conspirators sold more than 100 firearms to an undercover agent. Additionally, the undercover agent advised Farrar and Adams that he was illegally trafficking firearms to ship to New Jersey to sell to individuals who could not lawfully purchase firearms. Farrar admitted that he knew the firearms were getting trafficked and illegally sold to individuals prohibited from possessing a firearm and that at least three of the firearms were stolen.

Judge Rubin previously sentenced Adams to nine years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in the firearms trafficking conspiracy and for distributing methamphetamine.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Baltimore comprises agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the District of Maryland; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI); the United States Marshals Service (USMS); the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA (W/B HIDTA); the Maryland State Police (MSP); the Baltimore Police Department (BPD); and the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the ATF, USPIS, HSI, MSP, DPSCS, BPD, PGPD, and CMPD for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Y. Hagan who prosecuted this case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md.

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