Cleveland men arrested by FBI for gun trafficking conspiracy

CLEVELAND – Two Cleveland men were arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on Friday and are facing charges for offenses including firearms trafficking, international smuggling and murder-for-hire.

According to a statement from the FBI Cleveland Division and its Joint Terrorism Task Force, 66-year-old George Baynes, aka Issa Yusef, and 48-year-old Aaron Betts made their initial appearances in U.S. District Court on Friday.

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In its charging documents, the FBI says Baynes “repeatedly bought and sold new and stolen firearms and also attempted to smuggle firearms abroad. Baynes also enlisted the assistance of Betts to purchase and obtain firearms at a gun show in the Cleveland area.”

According to investigators, Betts bought and sold several firearms to Baynes, “a known felon,” and understood that the weapons would be shipped overseas.

The complaint also accuses Baynes of providing a cooperating witness with “firearm magazines and a gas mask to smuggle abroad with the firearms and discussed smuggling parts for the manufacture and manufacture of pipe bombs. Furthermore, Baynes asked the witness to murder a specific subject known to Baynes.

Baynes was accused of:

• Attempted smuggling of goods from the United States
• Selling or disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon
• Felon in possession of a firearm
• Conspiracy to straw purchase firearms
• Arms trafficking
• Arms trafficking conspiracy
• Contract killing

Betts was charged with:

• Selling or disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon
• Straw purchasing of firearms
• Conspiracy to straw purchase firearms
• Arms trafficking
• Arms trafficking conspiracy

According to the FBI, Baynes and Betts were arrested without incident and are being held pending detention and preliminary hearings.

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