According to the article, the ATF set up a sting operation running a store to sell clothing, shoes and drug paraphernalia.
The store was called “Fearless Distributing” The gun, along with two others and ammunition was stolen from the undercover ATF agents SUV.
http://media.jsonline.com/images/BACKFIRE04.jpg
“In Milwaukee, the plan was to buy illegal guns and take them off the street.
About 30 people have been charged, but mostly on minor gun and drug counts; 145 guns were seized, but some had just been purchased from stores such as Gander Mountain and sold to undercover agents for a quick profit.
This time, when agents lost track of weapons, they were their own.”
“The day after the theft, Sept. 14, Marquise Jones sold the ATF its own gun, along with a second, for $1,400 at the Fearless Distributing store, according to court documents.
But ATF agents let Jones walk. It would be about a week before agents questioned him, according to sources familiar with the investigation who asked not to be identified.
The sources said Jones was allowed to leave because ATF officials worried an arrest would expose the undercover storefront operation and embarrass the agency. Court records show agents continued to buy guns at the Fearless storefront in the week after the agent’s guns were stolen.
The operation was shut down a short time later. It is unclear if the decision was made by ATF or the U.S. attorney’s office in Milwaukee, which had been briefed on the investigation.
Jones might have been the best shot investigators had at quickly retrieving the remaining stolen guns.
Two months later, he was charged in federal court. He has pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen gun and is awaiting sentencing.
Toombs and Boone, who were arrested on the theft and later released, have been charged with other crimes in recent months, unrelated to the Fearless operation.
Contacted earlier this year, before he was arrested in those cases, Toombs told the Journal Sentinel he didn’t steal the ATF guns and didn’t know who did.
“I’m not going to talk about that,” he said. “I am putting that behind me.”
The store was called “Fearless Distributing”
Oh my, LOL, Fearless Distributing? Look... these Feral Yout’s may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer. But when it comes to “Street Smarts”, there are none better. Next time come up with a better store name and guys that look and act like old Bloods that have been in prison a long time.
