Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging five defendants with a conspiracy to illegally acquire machineguns and other regulated firearms. Charged in the indictment, which was unsealed yesterday are: Sean Reidpath Sullivan, age 38, of Gambrills, Maryland; Larry Allen Vickers, age 60, of Charlotte, North Carolina; James Christopher Tafoya, age 45, of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Matthew Jeremy Hall, age 53, of Four Oaks, North Carolina; and James Sawyer, age 50, of Ray, North Dakota.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) Baltimore Field Division; Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Baltimore Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Kareem A. Carter of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Washington, D.C. Field Office; and Inspector General Joseph Y. Cuffari of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (“DHS OIG”).
According to the 26-count indictment, Hall and Sawyer were Chiefs of Police in Coats, North Carolina and Ray, North Dakota, respectively. Sullivan was the owner and operator of Trident, LLC, located in Gambrills, Maryland, and was also an Intelligence Analyst with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. Sullivan and Trident were Federal Firearms Licensees (“FFLs”) and Special Occupational Taxpayers (“SOTs”), which allowed them, in certain circumstances, to possess, import, manufacture, and deal in fully automatic firearms (machineguns) and other regulated firearms. Tafoya and Vickers owned and operated firearms related businesses in New Mexico and North Carolina and were also FFLs and SOTs.
The indictment alleges that, beginning in at least June 2018 through at least March 2021, the defendants conspired to acquire machineguns and/or other restricted firearms, such as short-barreled rifles, by falsely representing that the firearms would be used for demonstration to law enforcement agencies, including the Coats Police Department and the Ray Police Department. The indictment further alleges that Hall, Sawyer, and other conspirators signed law letters with no expectation that the weapons would ever be demonstrated to their respective law enforcement agencies.
The defendants allegedly intended to impermissibly import into the United States and resell the machineguns and other firearms for profit or to keep for their own use and enjoyment. Sullivan allegedly submitted the false law letters to the ATF seeking to import the machineguns and other restricted weapons. Once the firearms were received, Sullivan allegedly kept some of the machineguns and other restricted weapons and transferred some of the weapons to Vickers, Tafoya, and other conspirators.
In addition to the indictment, Larry Vickers pleaded guilty yesterday to participating in the conspiracy to import and obtain machineguns and other restricted firearms and admitted that he received some of the imported machineguns and other weapons. As detailed in his plea agreement, Vickers kept some of the machineguns and other restricted weapons in his personal collection and transferred other machineguns and restricted weapons to other FFLs and third parties. Vickers also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions against a foreign firearms manufacturer between July 2014 and March 2021, in the Southern District of Florida.
Vickers faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to violate federal law regulating firearms and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin has not yet scheduled sentencing for Vickers.
If convicted, Sullivan, Tafoya, Hall, and Sawyer face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to violate federal law regulating firearms and for each count of false statements related to submission of a law letter. Sullivan and Tafoya face a maximum of five years in federal prison for each count of unlawful importation of a firearm and for each count of making a false statement in records maintained by FFLs. Sullivan also faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for unlawful possession of unregistered machineguns and 10 years in federal prison for using criminal proceeds to conduct financial transactions. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sullivan and Tafoya have already had an initial appearance U.S. District Court in Baltimore and were released pending trial. Hall and Sawyer are expected to have an initial appearance at a later date.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the FBI, the IRS-CI on behalf of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and DHS-OIG for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys P. Michael Cunningham and Christine Goo, who are prosecuting the case and recognized Trial Attorneys Menno Goedman and Sean O’Dowd of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and Criminal Division, respectively, for their work on the Vickers guilty plea.
Prayers for Larry.
I would have thought Larry Vickers name would have been headline worthy. But maybe everyone else already knows this. I likely would not have read the article if I was not stuck in a training on federal regulations that don’t apply to me.
*Serves country in elite unit and receives multiple serious injuries*
*Continues to serve in other ways including development of weapon systems, equipment, and other things for similar units and the military as a whole, much of the work requiring navigating a complicated and ever-changing legal landscape with no continuity or, at times, common sense.*
*Develops cancer*
ATF:…I hate that guy.
Honestly “Vickers also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions against a foreign firearms manufacturer between July 2014 and March 2021, in the Southern District of Florida.” Is probably the section that got it all started. There’s a ton of depts giving out law letters they have no intention of actually buying, they just want to play with cool stuff or help out their dealer buddies. But sanctions are US State dept and they don’t play nice with people.
And once the .gov was going through everything anyway, and ATF sees a bunch of law letter MG imports for departments that never saw the guns, they just kept pulling the threads.
Probably didn’t pass the initial sanity check, simply based on the fact that those two cities are less than 3 square miles and under 3,000 folks, total…combined.
Not saying it’s impossible for small towns to need full-auto capability, but I can easily see how it set off the Spidey senses.
Letter of the law doesn’t stipulate size or location of agencies. It just requires a demonstration letter.
Agreed. But, wouldn’t be surprised if that made them say “hold up.”
Wait are they talking about Larry Vickers? Like Larry Vickers of Vickers Tactical? The firearm and training guy? If he pleads guilty to felony does that mean no more guns or training?
Not “if.” He pled guilty yesterday, it says.
There was a reason he was on his retirement tour
Also had a bunch of guns seized
U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin has not yet scheduled sentencing for Vickers.
I remember him getting his machineguns seized. Now it all makes sense. Considering that I and a great deal of other American’s consider the ’68 and ’86 NFA unconstitutional along with a bunch of other gun ‘laws’, I too wish him well. Hope things go well for him, especially considering he’s still battling cancer.
Vickers FAFO
Wow, un freaking real. The ATF and the rest of the federal government is corrupt. What a waste of taxpayer money and resources. Worthless feds
Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms are all legal….why do we need the ATF?
Clearly his problem was not becoming an agent first then trying to import/export said machine guns.