California man gets 15 years for Ohio gun-buying scheme. Firearm found in Modesto
A California man who traveled across the country to persuade a woman he met on a dating app to buy firearms for him has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, according to federal prosecutors.
Chariece Chew, 32, of Hayward, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese in Ohio after a jury convicted him in August of multiple firearms offenses, including straw purchasing and being a felon in possession of firearms.
Federal prosecutors said Chew, a previously convicted felon, traveled roughly 2,500 miles from California to Ohio in 2024 after meeting a 67-year-old Ohio woman through an online dating application.
After communicating through the app, Chew took a bus to Ohio to meet the woman in person, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
While there, prosecutors said, Chew convinced her to purchase four AK-style pistols on his behalf, claiming they were for a security company.
The woman bought two Micro Draco 7.62-caliber pistols from a firearms dealer in the Cleveland area before purchasing another Micro Draco and a Mini Draco pistol from a second dealer in Parma, Ohio, authorities said.
After obtaining the firearms, Chew returned to California by bus.
Federal officials said one of the guns purchased in Ohio was later recovered in Modesto, though prosecutors did not disclose when, where or under what circumstances the firearm was found.
Chew was convicted of two counts of straw-purchasing firearms and two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms. Prosecutors noted that his prior convictions include possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in 2019.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM.
