Feds: 7 pistols stolen from Mississippi. police recovered

[2nd amendment forever]

By HOLBROOK MOHR - Associated Press Writer

 

 

JACKSON, Miss. -- Seven of 11 pistols stolen from a police department in the Mississippi Delta have been recovered in Chicago, federal prosecutors said Wednesday in court papers.

 

Prison inmates in a community work program allegedly conspired to steal 11 Smith & Wesson .40-caliber pistols and five Colt M-16 machine guns from the Greenwood Police Department in late 2005 and early 2006, according to a federal indictment.

 

Court documents say the pistols were taken from a locked closet by inmates assigned to clean the police department and allegedly smuggled out with the help of others, including a county employee.

 

Eight people were indicted last year in the case. All but one, Andre Redmond, who was serving a five-year sentence for accessory to auto theft, has pleaded guilty. His trial starts Monday. Redmond's attorney has not responded to messages left this week by The Associated Press.

 

Authorities had not previously said how many of the guns have been recovered and have declined comment on the case. The information about the pistols was revealed in a court filing in Redmond's case. Prosecutors allege he arranged to transfer the guns to relatives in Chicago.

 

"Seven of 11 pistols stolen from the Greenwood Police Department have, in fact, been recovered by law enforcement officers during criminal incidents in Chicago," prosecutors said in court documents.

 

A man found in possession of one of the pistols in Chicago on Nov. 27, 2007, will testify that he bought it from a Chicago resident close to Redmond, the court document said. Redmond and the man who sold the gun "were raised together in the same household."

 

It's not clear what happened to the machine guns. Authorities have declined to comment on the case and the theft of the machine guns is not spelled out in court records. Redmond is not charged in the disappearance of the machine guns.

 

The inmates were assigned to the Leflore County Community Work Center. Some of them cleaned the police station as part of their duties and noticed the guns in a locked closet when they were escorted to get tools to perform their duties, according to the indictment.

 

Two of them removed a ceiling tile in an adjacent room and got into the closet from above, according to the indictment. Authorities say they stashed the weapons in a trash bag at Greenwood City Hall.

 

Redmond and Leflore County Road Department employee Derek "Dee" Salley allegedly picked up the pistols and delivered them to Redmond's girlfriend, authorities said. Redmond hoped to sell the pistols to his "Uncle Blood" in Chicago, the indictment said.

 

The girlfriend, Jennifer L. McGee, pleaded guilty Tuesday to knowing about a felony and not reporting the crime. Salley struck a deal with prosecutors earlier and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and receiving a stolen firearm.

 

Prosecutors say Redmond's girlfriend delivered the pistols to Redmond's cousin in Lexington, Miss. It's not clear from court records what happened next.

 

http://www.sunherald.com/218/story/1404620.html

[Jeff Johnson]

Two of them removed a ceiling tile in an adjacent room and got into the closet from above, according to the indictment. Authorities say they stashed the weapons in a trash bag at Greenwood City Hall.

that doesn't sound any more difficult than presenting a valid FOID, filling out forms, paying yer money, and waiting a couple days...

[Yas]

Hmm

• Stolen (Charge of receiving stolen firearm)
  
• No FFL transfer over interstate lines (Federal law)
  
• No FOID (state law)
  
• No waiting / cooling off period observed (State law)
  
• Pistol in Chicago (Chicago law)
  
• Firearm in Chicago not registered with CPD on a yearly basis as legally required. (Chicago law)
  
• Magazine capasity over 10 rounds (Crook county and Chicago law)
  
• Background check as required by FOID act? (State law)
  
• Any gun saftey locks? (State law)
  
• Shall we even ask about persons age and criminal record? but, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is in article
  
• Machine guns against the law to possess in the State of Illinois
  

 

[*] I forgot that by not registering the firearm in Chicago, the city failed to pick up its $25 registration fee also

So does that equate to city tax evasion?

 

Yup We need some more laws to stop this stuff.... I'm sure the criminals will obey those new laws. Yea right!

[Tvandermyde]

guys --

 

this a good article to forward to your state reps and senators.

 

It simply illistrates why passing goofy laws in Illinois will not stop criminals. Especially when they steal handguns and machineguns from police armories or broom closets.

[Xwing]

Yup We need some more laws to stop this stuff.... I'm sure the criminals will obey those new laws. :Drunk emoticon: Yea right!

 

This illustrates the mindset of the gun grabbers. It is mind-boggling that they actually believe this.

Because the criminals already broke 11 (at least) gun laws with reckless abandon, I'm sure passing a few more will stop them.