United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Portland man was sentenced to the federal prison on Friday after he was caught shipping a handgun and ammunition to the United Kingdom and possessing a pound of methamphetamine in his residence.

Lyle Justin Schirm, 35, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release, resolving two separate criminal cases.

According to court documents, in November 2020, law enforcement authorities in the U.K. notified Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) about a FedEx parcel shipped from Portland to the U.K. containing a 9mm handgun and ammunition. When interviewed by U.S. law enforcement, Schirm admitted to shipping the firearm. Schirm also told investigators he learned about shipping firearms to the U.K. by watching a video on YouTube. HSI later confirmed Schirm did not have a license to ship a firearm to the U.K.

On November 5, 2020, as part of a separate drug trafficking investigation, agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed a search warrant on Schirm’s northeast Portland apartment. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had previously notified DEA that Schirm was receiving international shipments of items used to manufacture counterfeit prescription pills. During their search of Schirm’s residence, investigators located what appeared to be a small laboratory used to make counterfeit Xanax pills. In addition, they located and seized two firearms, ammunition, over $14,000 in cash, and approximately one pound of methamphetamine.

On March 9, 2021, a federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment charging Schirm with smuggling goods from the U.S. One month later, on April 6, 2021, he was indicted a second time for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a trademark die, criminal attempt to manufacture adulterated and misbranded drugs, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

On May 24, 2022, Schirm pleaded guilty to smuggling goods from the U.S. and possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

These cases were investigated by HSI and DEA with assistance from CBP and the Clackamas County Interagency Task Force (CCITF). They were prosecuted by Cassady A. Adams, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

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