After man illegally sold guns, some went south
Posted Thursday, Jun. 30, 2011
A Fort Worth man illegally sold dozens of guns to "almost anybody" and some were recovered across the border in violence-plagued Mexico, a federal official told the Star-Telegram.
Before it was over, Myron McPhate, a security alarm installer, had guns drawn on him by police officers who pulled him off Interstate 20.
"They're all laid over the hood with guns drawn saying, 'Get out of the car! Get out of the car!'" McPhate said in an interview. "Everybody's freaking out in the van. I told my wife ... just sit still."
Now, after pleading guilty to dealing in firearms without a license, he faces up to five years in federal prison.
McPhate, 53, said he didn't realize his sale of firearms was illegal. He says he sold them at gun shows, and he didn't have a license. While under surveillance by authorities, McPhate was also photographed selling guns, including semiautomatic rifles with large-capacity magazines, at a Jack in the Box restaurant in Grand Prairie. Those arms eventually made their way south.
"I did not intentionally know these guns were going to Mexico," he said.
Evidence shows that many of the firearms fueling Mexican drug violence have come from the United States, including a growing number of increasingly lethal weapons from gun shops and shows in Texas, California and Arizona, according to federal reports.
Even small dealers are contributing to the problem, experts say. A professor who has studied violence in Mexico says the right kind of gun can fetch thousands of dollars from gang and cartel members.
McPhate said the charge against him was based on his selling about 100 guns. In addition to prison, he faces a fine of up to $250,000 when he is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Some of the guns have been recovered locally, others at the U.S.-Mexico border and in Mexico, said the federal official who had some knowledge of the case.
McPhate said agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recovered 38 of his guns and "none of them, according to their records, was ever used in a crime, thank God."
McPhate also forfeited 15 firearms stored in a gun safe at his home, including a .223-caliber rifle, two .45-caliber pistols, shotguns, six 9 mm pistols, a .44-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and several others pistols.
A court document known as a factual résumé also shows that McPhate sold a Masterpiece Arms MPA 45, described as a .45-caliber pistol, to an undercover ATF agent. The pistol was not part of his personal collection, nor were any of the guns he resold from January 2009 to September, the document says.
Gun owners may legally sell guns from their personal collection; however, a federal firearms license is required to engage in the business of selling guns.
McPhate said he started selling guns he had owned for years for extra money after gaining custody of his four grandchildren from Child Protective Services. He sold the weapons at a gun show, saw other dealers' success and then started buying arms and selling guns himself. He said he did it mostly for the "fellowshipping" and making a little money.
Over two years, he said, he bought about 200 guns.
McPhate said he bought used guns for $300 that might have retailed new at $500. He said he sold those for $325.
Robert Taylor, professor of public affairs and justice administration at the University of Texas at Dallas, said the resale can be much more lucrative. Something that costs $1,200 here can end up selling for $5,000 in Mexico.
"If you've got a fully automatic weapon and you're selling to folks down there, you can get a tremendous amount of money," Taylor said.
In October, McPhate said, ATF agents contacted him and "ransacked" his home. They told him they wanted him to be an informant, gathering evidence at gun shows to implicate other dealers.
McPhate told the ATF agents that he wanted immunity and his family in witness protection because "some of the guns went to Mexico. ... If they find out that I snitched them out, I said they're going to have retaliations."
The agents wouldn't do that, he said. "You're still going to jail when it's over," he said an agent told him.
McPhate eventually agreed to cooperate to keep his wife out of trouble, he said. But as the months passed, he said, the agents didn't feel he had kept up contact with them.
On Valentine's Day, McPhate and his family were going to look at a home when four police cars pulled in behind him on the interstate.
McPhate was handcuffed and taken to jail. He was released and immediately taken into custody by ATF agents. He pleaded guilty, believing he might get probation. However, the selling of guns at the fast-food restaurant added an element of gun trafficking to his crime, he said.
He said he doesn't think he'll get the maximum sentence.
"Now I'm looking at 24 to 48 months in the federal pen," he said, adding that he believes his grandchildren will be taken by authorities and split up because his wife does not have custody of them. McPhate, who said he served in the Marines, said his only previous legal trouble was for writing a hot check, which he paid off.
McPhate says he wishes he had known what he was doing was wrong. "I feel bad," he said. "I did not intentionally know these guns were going to Mexico."
U.S. and Mexican government officials have said that Mexican drug organizations arrange for the trafficking of most guns into Mexico, according to a 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office.
ATF eTrace data showed that between fiscal years 2004 and 2008, more than 20,000 firearms, or 87 percent, that were seized by Mexican authorities and could be traced had originated in the United States.
Taylor, the UTD professor, said some gun sellers are quick to report suspicious activity to authorities. But other gun sellers, he said, clearly know that their guns are headed to Mexico for use in violent crimes.
During his regular visits to the border, Taylor said, he has seen 15 or 20 bodies, hands bound behind their backs, of people assassinated on a street.
"It's pretty ugly," he said.
Darren Barbee, 817-390-7126
Before it was over, Myron McPhate, a security alarm installer, had guns drawn on him by police officers who pulled him off Interstate 20.
"They're all laid over the hood with guns drawn saying, 'Get out of the car! Get out of the car!'" McPhate said in an interview. "Everybody's freaking out in the van. I told my wife ... just sit still."
Now, after pleading guilty to dealing in firearms without a license, he faces up to five years in federal prison.
McPhate, 53, said he didn't realize his sale of firearms was illegal. He says he sold them at gun shows, and he didn't have a license. While under surveillance by authorities, McPhate was also photographed selling guns, including semiautomatic rifles with large-capacity magazines, at a Jack in the Box restaurant in Grand Prairie. Those arms eventually made their way south.
"I did not intentionally know these guns were going to Mexico," he said.
Evidence shows that many of the firearms fueling Mexican drug violence have come from the United States, including a growing number of increasingly lethal weapons from gun shops and shows in Texas, California and Arizona, according to federal reports.
Even small dealers are contributing to the problem, experts say. A professor who has studied violence in Mexico says the right kind of gun can fetch thousands of dollars from gang and cartel members.
McPhate said the charge against him was based on his selling about 100 guns. In addition to prison, he faces a fine of up to $250,000 when he is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Some of the guns have been recovered locally, others at the U.S.-Mexico border and in Mexico, said the federal official who had some knowledge of the case.
McPhate said agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recovered 38 of his guns and "none of them, according to their records, was ever used in a crime, thank God."
McPhate also forfeited 15 firearms stored in a gun safe at his home, including a .223-caliber rifle, two .45-caliber pistols, shotguns, six 9 mm pistols, a .44-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and several others pistols.
A court document known as a factual résumé also shows that McPhate sold a Masterpiece Arms MPA 45, described as a .45-caliber pistol, to an undercover ATF agent. The pistol was not part of his personal collection, nor were any of the guns he resold from January 2009 to September, the document says.
Gun owners may legally sell guns from their personal collection; however, a federal firearms license is required to engage in the business of selling guns.
McPhate said he started selling guns he had owned for years for extra money after gaining custody of his four grandchildren from Child Protective Services. He sold the weapons at a gun show, saw other dealers' success and then started buying arms and selling guns himself. He said he did it mostly for the "fellowshipping" and making a little money.
Over two years, he said, he bought about 200 guns.
McPhate said he bought used guns for $300 that might have retailed new at $500. He said he sold those for $325.
Robert Taylor, professor of public affairs and justice administration at the University of Texas at Dallas, said the resale can be much more lucrative. Something that costs $1,200 here can end up selling for $5,000 in Mexico.
"If you've got a fully automatic weapon and you're selling to folks down there, you can get a tremendous amount of money," Taylor said.
In October, McPhate said, ATF agents contacted him and "ransacked" his home. They told him they wanted him to be an informant, gathering evidence at gun shows to implicate other dealers.
McPhate told the ATF agents that he wanted immunity and his family in witness protection because "some of the guns went to Mexico. ... If they find out that I snitched them out, I said they're going to have retaliations."
The agents wouldn't do that, he said. "You're still going to jail when it's over," he said an agent told him.
McPhate eventually agreed to cooperate to keep his wife out of trouble, he said. But as the months passed, he said, the agents didn't feel he had kept up contact with them.
On Valentine's Day, McPhate and his family were going to look at a home when four police cars pulled in behind him on the interstate.
McPhate was handcuffed and taken to jail. He was released and immediately taken into custody by ATF agents. He pleaded guilty, believing he might get probation. However, the selling of guns at the fast-food restaurant added an element of gun trafficking to his crime, he said.
He said he doesn't think he'll get the maximum sentence.
"Now I'm looking at 24 to 48 months in the federal pen," he said, adding that he believes his grandchildren will be taken by authorities and split up because his wife does not have custody of them. McPhate, who said he served in the Marines, said his only previous legal trouble was for writing a hot check, which he paid off.
McPhate says he wishes he had known what he was doing was wrong. "I feel bad," he said. "I did not intentionally know these guns were going to Mexico."
U.S. and Mexican government officials have said that Mexican drug organizations arrange for the trafficking of most guns into Mexico, according to a 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office.
ATF eTrace data showed that between fiscal years 2004 and 2008, more than 20,000 firearms, or 87 percent, that were seized by Mexican authorities and could be traced had originated in the United States.
Taylor, the UTD professor, said some gun sellers are quick to report suspicious activity to authorities. But other gun sellers, he said, clearly know that their guns are headed to Mexico for use in violent crimes.
During his regular visits to the border, Taylor said, he has seen 15 or 20 bodies, hands bound behind their backs, of people assassinated on a street.
"It's pretty ugly," he said.
Darren Barbee, 817-390-7126
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