Gun supplier for Bristol gangs jailed
22-year-old Leo McKoy from Tottenham in London was arrested when his DNA was found "all over" a revolver
A man, found guilty of supplying guns to organised criminals in Bristol, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Leo McKoy (22) from Suffolk Road in Tottenham was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday (9 May) following a police investigation that began in 2020.
That year officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) tracked another man from Bristol to Tottenham, who picked up a gun and ammunition from a flat in the area.
The weapon was seized when he left and he went on to be sentenced to five years and three months behind bars later that year.
The man who owned the flat, Sarah Abdelmuttalab, was also arrested, while a second gun, ammunition and thousands of pounds in cash was found during a search.
McKoy was not present at the flat, but became involved when his DNA was found all over the gun the Bristol man had collected.
He denied ever possessing the revolver but based on the DNA officers raided his home, where they then found £5,080 in cash, cannabis worth more than £4,000, several mobile phones and a bullet proof vest.
McKoy forfeited the £5,080 at a confiscation hearing held at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court in August 2021 and was also ordered to pay £3,000 in costs.
Though he denied the firearms offence, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis, receiving an additional 6 months to run consecutively.
DCI Adam Smith, of the SWROCU, said: “In total, two firearms were taken off the streets as a result of this investigation, one of which we know was heading to Bristol.
“McKoy tried to deny involvement, but his DNA was all over the gun seized.
"The other items found at his home – bulletproof vest, large amounts of cash, drug dealing paraphernalia – all show the level of crime he was involved in.
“Most importantly, that gun never made it back to Bristol and McKoy is now behind bars, meaning our communities are safer as a result.”
Abdelmuttalab, aged 33, of Fairview Road, Tottenham, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and being concerned in the supply of cannabis in January this year, and was sentenced alongside McKoy to three months, suspended for one year.
To date no one has been convicted in relation to the second weapon found at Abdelmuttalab's flat.
Bristol Commander Supt Mark Runacres, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “This was a crucially successful investigation by our colleagues in the SWROCU which has resulted in a firearm destined for Bristol being taken off the streets.
“We’re working hard every day to ensure illegal weapons like these don’t end up in the hands of organised crime groups, whose illicit activities only cause misery in the communities they operate in.”