If ‘gun control’ laws really worked, this wouldn’t happen.
Tremonton man pleads no contest in gun trafficking case
A Tremonton man who was restricted from owning firearms due to a previous violent felony conviction in the 1980s has pleaded no contest to 11 misdemeanor charges after he was caught selling guns online in a January 2020 Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) sting operation.
Richard Lewis Andrew Christiansen, 67, who had been convicted in the 1980s of a felony for sending threatening communications through the mail in another state, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in April of this year that had him plead “no contest” to five counts of Class A misdemeanor attempted transfer of a firearm by a restricted person, five counts of Class A misdemeanor attempted unlawful solicitation for a firearm transfer, and one count of Class B misdemeanor providing false information on a concealed weapons application.
In exchange for the “no contest” pleas, Box Elder County prosecutors dismissed 18 third-degree felony counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, and six third-degree felony counts of transaction of a firearm or dangerous weapon in violation of law.
Christiansen is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24 by 1st District Judge Spencer Walsh. He faces up to a $1,000 fine and up to 180 days in jail on the Class B misdemeanor charge, and up to a $2,400 fine and 364 days in jail for each Class B misdemeanor charge.
According to court documents, the BCI first became aware of Christiansen when he was denied a gun purchase after he answered that he was a convicted felon on a required form.
“In May 2014, Defendant attempted to purchase a firearm but was denied because he marked that he was a convicted felon on the application form,” reads the statement of probable cause. But in an application for a concealed carry permit from March 12, 2018, Christiansen answered “no” to the question asking about felony convictions.
An oversight at BCI led the agency to issue Christiansen the carry permit, which was discovered nearly two years later.
In January of 2020, agents from the BCI conducted an undercover operation targeting Christiansen and were able to purchase two guns and ammunition from him using an online auction site. Christiansen was taken into custody after meeting with the undercover agent to complete the gun sale. A search warrant executed on Christiansen’s Tremonton home turned up 23 additional guns, which Christiansen “admitted he owned.”
Christensen was able to post a $10,000 bail bond, and made an initial appearance before 1st District Judge Brandon Maynard on June 22 of 2020. A preliminary hearing held on Nov. 2 found there was enough evidence to support the charges, and Christensen was bound over for trial.
At a pre-trial conference on April 14 of this year the plea arrangement was reached, dropping the felony charges.
“Since that felony conviction back in the 80s he’s really had no other criminal involvements and has become a good, productive member of society. Due to him leading an otherwise good life and the oversight by BCI, I decided to offer a plea to misdemeanors,” said Box Elder County prosecutor Blair Wardle, when asked about the plea arrangement.