Yeah, that Background Check System didn’t stop these people from purchasing handguns for a felon
Law enforcement agents call people who buy guns for those who aren’t legally able to do so — like minors or felons — straw buyers.
A new federal indictment suggests a Milwaukee man might qualify as a super straw buyer.
Court records indicate that over about three months last fall, Keenan D. Hughes, 33, purchased 39 handguns from 15 Wisconsin stores, paying more than $25,000 cash, on behalf of Marvin Powell, 41, of Milwaukee, a repeat felon who can’t legally possess, much less purchase, firearms.
According to the charges, Hughes lied on federal forms he filled out at various Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) stores, saying he intended the weapons for himself. He would buy one, two or three guns at a time at stores big and small from Brookfield to Janesville, Germantown to Waupun.
Using the filled-out form, FFLs are required to do background checks on the buyer. Because Hughes has no felony convictions or other prohibition on gun ownership, he was cleared each time.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force member on the case, Milwaukee Police Officer Adolfo Ayala, explained in the complaint that sophisticated straw buyers will often go to many different stores to not raise suspicions about multiple purchases in a short time, will pay cash to prevent tracing the funds and focus on stores in rural areas “where the FFLs may have less experience identifying a potential straw purchase than those in larger cities.”
Ayala said that traces on guns recovered in crimes often show they were fairly recently purchased — often by straw buyers.
According to the charges:
The buying spree started July 15 at The Range in Richfield with three guns. Hughes bought two more the next day at Mills Fleet Farm in Germantown.
But his efforts became nearly a full-time job in September. From Sept. 7 to Nov. 4, Hughes drove around the state, often with Powell, buying 34 more guns.
Other stores that sold Hughes guns included a Fleet Farm in Oshkosh; Smitty’s Guns in Deerfield (three times); Stock & Field in Portage; Select Fire Weaponry and Fletcher Arms, both in Waukesha; Fox Valley Firearms, Appleton Scheels and Fireline Shooting, all in Appleton; Mid City Guns in Janesville; Holliday Food & Sport in Ripon; Martens Farm and Home in Waupun; Max Creek Outdoors in Oregon; and WI Firearms Training in Brookfield.
The spree might have been hard to detect as abnormal last year when Americans were buying guns and ammunition at a record pace.
In early November, something spooked Powell and Hughes after they visited a gun shop in Cross Plains and they left without buying anything, the charges state. The shop’s owner shared video of the men and their vehicle, caught on video, with the ATF. Agents traced the car to Powell.
Agents stopped Powell and Hughes Nov. 16 shortly after they exited Powell’s house and got in the same car seen in the Cross Plains video. Hughes had two guns in his pockets and there were boxes for three handguns in the car.
After getting a search warrant for Powell’s house, agents found a red suitcase inside with eight more handguns, numerous other gun magazines and more than 300 rounds of ammunition of various calibers.
According to court records, Hughes admitted to agents that Powell was paying him to make the purchases, plus others Powell arranged through Armslist.com, an online guns marketplace.
Hughes was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in January, detained for a few days and then released on a recognizance bond to live with his sister.
He and Powell are charged with conspiracy to knowingly transfer firearms to a prohibited person and make false statements to federally-licensed gun dealers and six counts of making those false statements during purchases in October at stores in Appleton and Ripon.
Powell is charged with eight counts of being a felon in possession of specific handguns that had been transported across state lines.
Powell is currently jailed in Milwaukee, where he faces several state theft and identity theft charges. He was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute in 2014 and theft in 2008, according to online court records.
Hughes had been scheduled for arraignment via Zoom on Tuesday but couldn’t connect. He did not appear for the rescheduled hearing on Thursday. He was issued a summons for the hearing, now set for April 6.