An ex-Ohio police chief used his badge in a machine gun trafficking scheme aimed at reselling more than 200 weapons of war, prosecutors said.
Federal laws ban the purchase or transfer of fully automatic machine guns unless for law enforcement, an exception LaCourse, 66, exploited.
Working with two federally licensed Indiana gun dealers, LaCourse signed multiple letters that falsely stated the Village of Addyston Police Department wanted to buy different types of machine guns, including military-grade.
Those letters were then sent to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by co-conspirators Johnathan Marcum, 34, and Christopher Petty, 58, to get the weapons. The two men were supposed to give the department demonstrations with the guns, but never did.
LaCourse also directly ordered German-made machine guns that he said were paid for by his department, but were instead purchased by Marcum and Petty.
The machine guns were resold for five or six times the purchase price, the US Attorney’s Office said
Marcum and Petty pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme and will be sentenced at a later date.
LaCourse originally faced 17 charges connected to the crime, but ended up pleading guilty to three of them in April, according to Fox 19. Prosecutors sought six years in prison as part of the plea agreement, the television station reported.
Ex-Ohio police chief sentenced for role in machine gun trafficking scheme
A former police chief from a tiny village in Ohio was sentenced for his role in a machine gun trafficking scheme, federal authorities said.
nypost.com
I wonder where these machine guns ended up at.
How does this guy get NO prison time? This is a perfect example of how Justice is a privilege in this country.
