Pittsburgh Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Firearms Stolen in Gun Store Robbery

PITTSBURGH — Nathaniel Dennis pleaded guilty June 4 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to possessing firearms stolen during an armed robbery of a gun store.

The single-count information charged Dennis under 18 U.S.C. § 922(j) with knowing possession of 12 handguns and long guns taken in the robbery. Per the Justice Department plea agreement, Dennis faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 10 years. He must also forfeit the 12 recovered firearms.

The scope of the offense centers on the complete inventory taken from the store: 12 specific firearms transferred directly from the commercial inventory into illegal circulation. Federal agents recovered every weapon listed in the charging document.

The plea changes Dennis’s legal status from defendant to convicted felon effective June 4. Sentencing is now scheduled for a date to be set by the court; the mandatory minimum five-year term takes effect upon final judgment.

Downstream, the conviction requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to update its stolen-gun database to reflect the closed case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office must prepare a presentence investigation report that will be shared with the Probation Office and the judge.

Dennis is barred from future firearms possession under federal law, and any attempt to acquire or possess guns after release will constitute a new felony. The forfeiture order also directs the government to destroy or otherwise dispose of the 12 weapons once the appeals period expires.

This case is one of several federal prosecutions in the Western District of Pennsylvania that trace stolen commercial firearms into local possession charges. The Justice Department announcement lists the case as resolved through a plea rather than trial.