Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Wayne O'Neil Caldwell and Angelo Glen Henley entered pleas in U.S. District Court as part of a continuing federal, state and local investigation code-named Operation Triggerlock.
U.S. Attorney Helen Fahey said the men were involved in the illegal sale of more than 625 firearms, some to criminals and most with their serial numbers ground off.
Caldwell, 23, of Henrico County, and Henley, 26, of Richmond, had been charged May 10 with violating federal firearms conspiracy and firearms sales laws. Both pleaded guilty to one count of violating each law.
The pleas were part of an agreement with Assistant U.S. Attorney S. David Schiller in which the men waived indictment by a grand jury and will cooperate with federal officials.
Both men could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison or fined up to $500,000, Fahey said.
Caldwell and Henley were taken into federal custody pending sentencing Aug. 28.
Fahey said Caldwell obtained a federal firearms license and used it to sell semiautomatic weapons to felons without making background checks on them.
``Even worse, the firearms were sold only after the defendants removed the serial numbers, making tracing of the guns when recovered at crime scenes all the more difficult,'' Fahey said. ``Over 50 firearms have been recovered by police agencies in the Richmond area with their serial numbers removed, and many of these were of a brand and type sold through this conspiracy.''
Fahey said Caldwell bought firearms from one wholesaler each in Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York and resold most of them to people outside of Virginia without completing the required forms.
The weapons were primarily 9mm pistols, many of them Glock semiautomatic models preferred by drug dealers, Fahey said. Some semiautomatic assault weapons were also sold, she said.
Caldwell also sold about 60 firearms to Henley, knowing Henley would resell them locally. With only three exceptions, each of the firearms Caldwell sold Henley had their serial numbers removed. Henley already had a felony conviction for violating a federal firearms law,
The investigation began in the winter and involved the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Virginia State Police; and Richmond police.
``We started getting reports that the guns were being sold on the street with the serial numbers ground off'' early this year, said Dann Phelps, resident agent of the Richmond ATF office.
Police officers began finding 9mm guns without serial numbers at crime scenes. At a state police lab, technicians managed to reconstruct the serial number of one weapon and trace its origin, Phelps said.
``We traced all those guns, and by doing that we started learning who the dealer was who was receiving these things,'' he said.
by CNB