NORFOLK, Va. — The man accused of selling a stolen gun to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, the former National Guardsman who gunned down an Old Dominion University ROTC instructor in a classroom on March 12, is expected to plead guilty in federal court on Friday.
Kenya Mcchell Chapman, the Smithfield man who authorities say sold Jalloh the gun, was charged with dealing firearms without a license related to the March shooting, and three counts from 2021 of making false statements when purchasing a firearm.
The false statement charges from 2021 were initially dropped by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, but were resurfaced this year following Chapman's alleged involvement in supplying the weapon in the deadly campus shooting.
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Chapman had initially entered a plea of not guilty in the days following the shooting; but a referral order obtained by News 3 Thursday indicates that he plans to plead guilty. The referral does not state which or how many of the charges he plans to plead guilty to.
The gun Chapman allegedly sold to Jalloh — who was a current ODU student at the time of the shooting with a criminal history for attempting to support ISIS — was a Glock 44 .22 caliber with the serial number filed off. Chapman allegedly took the gun from a car and sold it to Jalloh for $100, apparently not knowing how he intended to use it.
Jalloh entered the ROTC classroom and shot instructor Brandon Shah and a student. Shah died that day and the student recovered. Cadets in the class stabbed Jalloh to death shortly after he opened fire.
Watch related: ODU shooter used stolen gun in ROTC class shooting
Court documents obtained by News 3 in March showed ATF was aware that Chapman had engaged in three straw purchases of guns — legally buying a gun and selling/giving it to someone who cannot legally purchase a gun.
Two of those guns were recovered by Newport News police in a homicide investigation, the documents show.
The documents also state that Chapman admitted to the straw purchases, admitted that he "did so for money," acknowledged his signature on the purchasing forms, and acknowledged that he had broken the law. He wrote an apology letter and was issued a warning by the ATF; he has never been convicted of a felony, the documents state.
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