A few months ago the hoplophobes were complaining about people buying guns on Facebook, yet as we see here, Facebook is a great resource for cops trying to get criminals into trouble:
STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A Storm Lake man has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing firearms that he purchased using Facebook.
The Sioux City Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1m7hrpz ) 21-year-old William Kurtz pleaded guilty Monday in Buena Vista County District Court to being a felon in possession of a firearm and acquiring a pistol without a permit. Two counts of felon in possession of a firearm were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Kurtz was prohibited from owning guns because of a felony conviction.
Court documents show Kurtz used Facebook to buy the guns. Police arrested him Feb. 17 after an undercover officer exchanged a gun with Kurtz and took money as a down payment on a second gun.
Police found another gun and ammunition in Kurtz’s home.
Sentencing is set for Aug. 18.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/2014/06/23/iowa-man-pleads-guilty-to-illegally-buying-gun-on-facebook/11289351/
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So then…why a plea agreement? GUILTY and found additional firearm in his home? Well spit how about a spanking!
Plea deals are part of our system, prosecutors want to get convictions, they hate losing, so with the plea deal they always get something.
I forgot to mention something else, plea bargains are also about saving the State money and the court time. It’s expensive to prosecute people, even when they’re guilty.
Usually when they offer a plea deal, its because they lack evidence for the case. So they try to scare the person in to taking a plea. Please are also used if the person was co operative with L/E during their investigation, to cut cost as stated in a earlier post. However, a judge can ignore the plea deal and rule against it. Just because its a plea deal don’t mean anything will become of it. To me it means you are giving them another conviction to the DA that he can use at a later date to say, Yeah bud, I got 5k convictions. in the hopes of being re elected as DA.
True felons can’t have guns, period. I wonder if this good agent informed Kurtz about needing a background check and having to ship to an FFL holder. It’s obvious a felon would know this requirement. A person can buy a firearm from another in the same state without a background check and had this purchase been made to another person Kurtz would not have been caught, even if the seller asked if he was legal. But Kurtz took the bait and was caught.
Good observation, of course, cops don’t inform you of anything when they’re trying to entrap you.
Would it not be illegal to SELL firearms online the way the cop did? He should be prosecuted for selling a firearm illegally.
Cops are protected when they’re doing a sting operation. Remember the Fast and the Furious case? How they forced gun dealers to sell guns to people who didn’t pass the background check? Same deal here. The only exception would be if the cop crosses the line. A female cop pretending to be a prostitute can’t touch your crotch hoping you’ll offer her sex for money.