Former safety director for High Point Parks and Rec Dept. pleads guilty to weapons dealing (2024)

WINSTON-SALEM — The former safety director for the High Point Parks and Recreation Department pleaded guilty April 2 to federal charges of unlawfully dealing firearms and other related offenses, according to documents from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Winston-Salem.

Tiyon Jermelle Weaver of Greensboro was charged with knowingly making false statements on June 21, 2023, during the acquisition of a firearm when he purchased a 9 mm Springfield hand gun at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Greensboro, according to a Jan. 16 indictment.

During the purchase, authorities alleged in the three-count indictment, Weaver deceived the licensed gun dealer by listing his address falsely as 306 Malamute Lane in Greensboro.

A second count in the indictment states that Weaver broke federal law by selling firearms as an unlicensed dealer. And the third count accuses him of providing a false address to the Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives during the Sportsman’s Warehouse Springfield purchase.

The city of High Point hired Weaver on Oct. 16, 2000, as the community resource specialist in the city’s Community Development and Housing Department. He later held multiple positions, including senior recreation center director and recreation center supervisor. Weaver began his job as safety coordinator for Parks and Recreation on Feb. 12, 2023. As of November 2023, his salary was $72,996, Fox 8 reported.

A High Point spokesman said this week that Weaver is no longer with the city.

Weaver first appeared suspicious to authorities in June 2023 when investigators began finding his firearms connected with crimes. Police discovered one such gun on Sept. 3, 2022 during a traffic stop and another during a search by the Winston-Salem Police Department on June 29, 2022.

On Jan. 31, 2020, Winston-Salem Police found a man dead in a home and learned the murder weapon had allegedly been purchased by Weaver on Dec. 18, 2019, according to a report by WGHP/Fox 8, the newsgathering partner of the Greensboro News & Record and the Winston-Salem Journal.

Weaver had allegedly failed to report any of those firearms as stolen, Fox 8 reported.

Special Agent Alyson Halonen reviewed reports of multiple sales in Forsyth and Guilford counties in an attempt to find purchases by Weaver. The reports are generated when a person buys two or more handguns from a Federal Firearms Licensee at the same time or within five days, Fox 8 reported.

The search showed that since 2017, Weaver had allegedly purchased more than 155 firearms from various Federal Firearms Licensees. Over that same period, 19 multiple sale reports were generated for purchases made by Weaver.

Halonen also obtained a federal search warrant for information linked to Weaver’s Apple IDs. The information led her to images of firearms displayed as if for sale, Fox 8 reported.

She also found a text conversation Weaver had with a phone number with no contact information. The anonymous person said: “I have been a Sig man,” referring to a Sig Sauer model P320 M 18 9mm firearm, a photo of which was allegedly found in Weaver’s iCloud, Fox 8 reported.

Weaver allegedly replied: “Never had one jam. I like Sig too. Sold a couple that I had,” according to the Fox 8 report.

On Oct. 23, 2023, Fox 8 reported, Halonen presented Weaver with her findings and he allegedly said: “I just didn’t realize it was that many, good lord. I’ve got a problem. I didn’t know it was that many.”

Over the next two days, Weaver emailed Halonen documentation of his firearms sales.

“I hate those crimes were committed with something that I purchased. It has opened my eyes to what can happen when firearms get into the wrong hands. I can definitely say I won’t be selling anything else,” Weaver wrote in his last email to Halonen, according to the Fox 8 report.

Weaver, who is currently out on bond, could face up to five years in prison for unlawfully dealing firearms, plus a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is set for Aug. 21, according to court staff.