McKinney man gets 87 months for Plano gun store robbery

Brandon Elliott Bennett, 22, of McKinney, learned that U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant had imposed an 87-month federal prison term on April 7, 2026, for his role in a violent smash-and-grab at Mister Guns in Plano. Bennett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft from a federal firearm licensee and theft from such a licensee in the case listed as USA v. Bennett et al., 4:24-cr-00150 in the Eastern District of Texas.

Court documents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office say the burglary occurred May 5, 2024, when suspects rammed the Mister Guns storefront with a vehicle and used a sledgehammer to smash multiple glass display cases. The attack yielded more than 60 firearms, including rifles and handguns, which prosecutors say were later sold for profit, prompting an ATF-led investigation and a federal prosecution handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chalana A. Oliver.

Federal prosecutors framed the prosecution as part of Operation Take Back America, the Department of Justice initiative formalized by a March 6, 2025 memorandum that marshals OCDETF and Project Safe Neighborhoods resources against organized trafficking and related violent crime. U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced the sentence, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives led investigative efforts alongside local law enforcement in Collin County and Plano.

The handling of the Mister Guns burglary as a federal matter reflects how prosecutors view coordinated store thefts as a public-safety risk: weapons stolen from federally licensed dealers can quickly enter illegal markets and be used in subsequent violent offenses. Nationally, the ATF’s 2024 Federal Firearms Licensee Theft/Loss Report shows 17,241 firearms were reported lost or stolen from FFLs in 2024, a figure prosecutors cited when prioritizing multi-defendant trafficking cases under the Operation Take Back America framework.

Public records show at least one other defendant, Caden Rose, listed on the federal docket, underscoring that investigators pursued a multi-defendant conspiracy rather than an isolated offender. The DOJ release and court filings do not specify which, if any, of the more than 60 firearms have been recovered, and federal court records on PACER contain plea documents, sentencing filings, and any forfeiture motions that will shed further light on recovered weapons and asset-disposition plans.

For Collin County residents, the 87-month sentence signals federal prosecutors’ willingness to seek multi-year penalties for organized thefts that supply illegal arms markets. Local coverage of the original May 5, 2024 incident, including surveillance video published by television outlets, remains part of the evidentiary record; follow-up reporting will focus on co-defendant proceedings, any asset forfeiture, and ATF investigative results tied to the stolen Mister Guns inventory.