BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former Fairfield Police Department maintenance worker to six years and six months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Hyche.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala sentenced ROY ELLIS HUNTER, 70, on one count of being a convicted felon who possessed four handguns on June 4, 2015. Hunter pleaded guilty to the charge in October. He must report to prison May 15.
“Roy Hunter was stealing guns from a police department and then selling them to persons who could not legally buy a firearm,” Posey said. “ATF and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency stopped that illegal flow of guns back onto the streets. Our community is safer because of their work and this prosecution.”
“These guns had already been taken off the street by law enforcement once,” Hyche said. “I am happy that we were able to stop this and prevent more of them from being sold to criminals.”
According to Hunter’s plea, he was convicted on federal racketeering and cocaine distribution charges in 1984 and on federal counterfeiting charges in 1983.
On June 4, 2015, Hunter sold four handguns, a Cobra .380-caliber pistol, an FIE .32-caliber revolver, an Iberia .40-caliber pistol and a Norinco 9 mm pistol, for $800 to an informant working undercover with ATF agents. The transaction took place at Hunter’s Fairfield home and was monitored and recorded. In the course of that sale, Hunter and the informant planned a future purchase, according to Hunter’s plea.
On July 8, in another monitored transaction at Hunter’s residence, the informant paid Hunter $4,000 to buy 15 firearms, which he selected from 30 that Hunter retrieved from his basement, according to his plea. One of the guns was in a clear plastic bag that was marked “Evidence.” Agents arrested Hunter the next day and recovered 31 firearms, ammunition, narcotics and a decorative sword “that were all presumed to be stolen from the Fairfield Police Department,” according to Hunter’s plea.
ATF, with assistance from ALEA, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Royster prosecuted.
And apparently no charges for all of the gun thefts.
I’ll bet the cops at the Fairfield PD are giving out their social security numbers on every ticked they write………..Just sayin’
A Yancey County Sheriff’s Deputy was convicted of doing the same thing. The difference was that the deputy didn’t have a criminal record. It is evidently more common than we know although the departments keep it hid fron the public as much as possible.
This was in North Carolina. Sorry I left that out.
I thought the Fed penalty for straw sales was five years per gun so sold… he sold the four, then agreed to sell another fiteen. If only the four count, that’s twenty years. Baybe this judge learned her fuzzy maths in a gummit grade skewl. That law is in place to prevent this, and is the supposed “justification” that makes ALL of us suffer the stupidity of background checks every time we want to buy or sell one of our guns. If it was not enforced here, why have it? Why have BGC? WHY put all of us throught hat… Read more »
@jh45gun in Conroe, You took the words right out of my mouth!! Don’t (the police) at least look to see if everything is there from time to time?? Well obviously he did not learn from his other convictions! Good, Let his ugly black ass sit behind bars for this!”(I am not prejudice just because he is black)” Simply a figure of speech! He got 6-1/2 yrs. What about the cops? Their just as guilty for letting it happen! What if a kid or a cop was shot to death with one of the weapons?? Can you say “house cleaning”?
Didn’t anyone notice that dozens of firearms were disappearing from the PD evidence room or armory? Didn’t they do an inventory from time to time?
The PD is almost as much as fault for the felon taking them. Now one has to ask what the heck else is missing?
“…former Fairfield Police Department maintenance worker…
…Roy Hunter was stealing guns from a police department and then selling them to persons who could not legally buy a firearm…
…he was convicted on federal racketeering and cocaine distribution charges in 1984 and on federal counterfeiting charges in 1983.”
I guess no background check for employment at the Fairfield PD?
Apparently not.
And I bet he votes in every election!
Multiple times in different precincts, no doubt.