Posted on 09/09/2002 11:59:37 PM PDT by Draakan
MOULTON - A federal grand jury is looking into whether someone in the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office purchased weapons in violation of federal firearms law.
Sheriff Grady Rose said Wednesday he was in U.S. District Court in Birmingham last week in connection with the case. He is not believed to be a target of the investigation, sources say.
Rose declined to elaborate on the nature of the investigation or what questions he was asked. Grand jury proceedings are not open to the public.
"They had subpoenaed some records, and I carried them to Birmingham," Rose said. "That's all I can comment on at this time."
Law enforcement sources say agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have been looking into allegations that a sheriff's office employee bought weapons or ammunition and sold it to a resident, possibly a former reserve deputy in the department.
The weapons and ammunition are available only to law enforcement or the military. The federal firearms law passed during President Clinton's administration placed restrictions on any civilian's access to semi-automatic guns, which are commonly associated with street crimes. No one has been indicted in the case, officials at the Hugo Black Federal Building in Birmingham said.
U.S. District Attorney Alice Martin said Tuesday she could neither confirm nor deny if her office was investigating anyone in the sheriff's office.
Sources said Rose was asked to provide personnel records and other related documentation from a five-year period beginning in October 1997. He was asked to identify all employees of the sheriff's office during that time.
The sheriff also had to provide all correspondence made between department personnel and all federally licensed firearms dealers, the sources said. He was asked to provide an inventory of the department's weapons and ammunition along with who has possession of those items.
Rose suspended Chief Deputy Jim Martin for two weeks in December for violating federal law involving ammunition magazines. Martin was accused of using his position in the department to buy an ammunition magazine that is restricted to police use.
Rose did not give details about why Martin was suspended at the time. He did say the action involved "nothing concerning his integrity or honesty."
It was unclear Wednesday who the target of the investigation is. Sources said ATF agents have spoken to people outside the sheriff's office during their investigation.
Mike Goens can be reached at 740-5740 or mike.goens@timesdaily.com.
The only thing that this stupid law did for me, is make things more expensive......................But I guess that why the law was passed!
Actually they are, and I refer to them as standard capacity magazines. The anti-freedom types want subjects only to have reduced capacity magazines.
Notice how much more accurate and clear that nomencalture is?
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