A Lancaster man made his initial federal court appearance Friday in Las Vegas for allegedly making false statements in connection with the unlawful purchase of multiple firearms and selling the firearms without a license.
Kenneth Earl Smith Jr., 28, allegedly engaged in dealing firearms without a firearms business license from about May 13 last year to about Aug. 17, 2021, according to the indictment.
During the purchase of 19 firearms from licensed dealers in Las Vegas, Smith allegedly made false statements on ATF transactions records.
Prosecutors contend he represented that he was the buyer of the firearms, when in fact he was acquiring the firearms on behalf of other persons. Smith likewise represented that he was a Nevada resident, when in fact he was a California resident, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Las Vegas.
Smith is charged with eight counts of illegal acquisition of a firearm and one count of engaging in the firearms business without a license. A jury trial has been scheduled for Jan. 3. If convicted of all charges, Smith faces up to 90 years in prison, prosecutors said.
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Kayla Smith says
These people are nuts a young man 90 years for not even shooting a gun off this will be interesting. All this time in jail for a misunderstanding. Wicked world we live in. God always does what’s right may not be immediately but innocent people don’t get bad judgments. A bad choice doesn’t change the rest of your life til you die. It’ll be alright.
Kay says
Sounds super fishy 19 transactions allegedly and 8 charges one being a charge in engaging without a license. Whistle Blowers where y’all at?
Tim Scott says
Sounds like a fairly typical straw buyer case. It’s unfortunate how hard a straw buyer case is to prove, so we’ll have to see where this goes.
GunsAren'tUs says
Perhaps he purchased 2 or 3 ‘guns’ in a single purchase which result in a one charge instead of one per gun? I don’t know if each gun requires it’s own instant check or if only one is required per cash register event.
Tim Scott says
The rest of the guns might have been for his own use, or at least not easy to prove that they were for resale. Could easily be just the typical dumb gun guy who made no secret of “I’ma go to Nevada and buy me some guns, you want anything?” then walked into the gun shop with a list of what to get for who in his hand.