Posted on 07/22/2006 2:42:44 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) People were paid with cash or cocaine to legally buy firearms in Virginia that were then peddled illegally on the streets of New York City, according to an indictment naming 11 suspects.
The ring purchased dozens of firearms at Norfolk and Portsmouth gun shops and dumped them in New York in 2004 and 2005, the indictment unsealed this week in U.S. District Court said.
Under the so-called straw gun purchases, convicted felons used friends and relatives with clean records to buy guns legally. The felons then sold the weapons for a high profit, federal prosecutors said.
Seven of the 11 suspects were in custody Friday, The Virginian-Pilot reported Saturday. The U.S. attorney's office deferred further questions until a news conference Tuesday.
The suspected ringleaders paid the buyers as much as $100, as little as $20 or with a chunk of crack cocaine, the indictment said.
They sold 9 mm and .45-caliber semiautomatics, .50-caliber revolvers, and rifles, according to investigators. Those models typically sell for $200 or more but can fetch triple the retail price on the street, law enforcement officials say.
Most were sold from Bob's Gun Shop in Norfolk and D&R Arms in Portsmouth, the indictment said. Robert Marcus, who runs Bob's, said he tries to prevent straw purchases. At D&R Arms, owner Richard Taylor said he had been assisting the government investigation.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg this year sued 15 gun dealers, including four in Virginia, for being the source of 500 crime guns recovered by police.
BUMP
Try, a lot more ...
Huh ?
Bloomie is a commie
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