CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—August 1, 2014. A Grundy County gun dealer was indicted on federal firearms charges alleging that he illegally sold 11 firearms from either his store or his residence to an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a felon, as well as to a convicted felon who was cooperating with law enforcement, federal law enforcement officials announced today.
The defendant, PATRICK SEAN KEIRAN, 40, of Elwood, Ill., in Will County, has been a federally licensed firearms dealer since April 2013 and operated American Choice Firearms and Ammo in Gardner, Ill., in Grundy County.
A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment yesterday charging Keiran with one count of selling firearms to an individual he had reason to believe was a convicted felon, one count of selling firearms to an individual who did not display a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card, and four counts of selling firearms without recording the name, age, and residence of the purchaser.
Keiran will be arraigned on a date to be determined in U.S. District Court in Chicago. He was initially charged in a criminal complaint and arrested on July 2, and was released on bond. His gun store was closed at that time and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives removed the firearms and ammunition remaining in the store at that time.
According to the charges, between May 29 and June 20, 2014, Keiran illegally sold 11 firearms ― eight 9mm handguns, two .22 caliber rifles, and a .38 caliber revolver. ATF agents began investigating Keiran in May after receiving information from a confidential source that he was selling firearms to prohibited persons and falsifying ATF paperwork in an attempt to fraudulently legitimize the prohibited sales, according to the complaint. The charges allege that Keiran initially conducted the illegal sales with an undercover agent at his store and later conducted additional illegal sales with the agent and a cooperating individual at his residence.
The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Carl Vasilko, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The Will County Sheriff’s Police Department, the Will County Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad (MANS), and the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation.
Keiran faces five counts of illegally selling firearms that each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and a sixth count that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and all six counts carry a maximum fine of $250,000. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Parente.
Source: justice.gov
