ATF set up bogus Kan. pawn shop in sting operation / LJWorld.com

Wichita — Court documents show a federal agency conducting an undercover firearms investigation set up a bogus Wichita pawn shop called "Bandit Trading" in a yearlong operation that ensnared 67 defendants

Defense attorneys contend the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives paid a "de facto informant" to solicit others to engage in criminal activity and may have helped the agency entrap their clients.

Details of the sting emerged this week as defense lawyers seek to force the U.S. attorney's office to turn over copies of surveillance videos captured by at least four video cameras at the bogus pawn shop.

The U.S. attorney's office says prosecutors are preparing a written response and will present arguments in court.

The operation was aimed at taking guns away from convicted felons.

blue73harley 1 year, 6 months ago

I thought this was going to be another article on the Yellow House saga.

Mike_Gerhardt 1 year, 6 months ago

Oh, please don't get Smitty started.

Agnostick 1 year, 6 months ago

Give it a few minutes, blue73harley...

RoeDapple 1 year, 6 months ago

Wonder if they have any Rolex watches for cheap. My last one I got in Mexico for $39.95 but it didn't last very long . . .

I always liked the one where they mail the glossy postcards to the outstanding warrants: "Free pair of NFL tickets just for attending this seminar! Saturday, 9:30am, Downtown Ramada Inn. Bring your ID to claim your free tickets!" Like, 100 people show up...

july241983 1 year, 6 months ago

There is a great episode of the Simpsons where the cops get all of the characters with warrants to come down and pick up their "free boat." When Homer is arrested on an outstanding warrant, he yells - "Owww, my boating arm!!!"

And of course, my personal fave...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyphuxM8Xg

devobrun 1 year, 6 months ago

Very nice, agnostic. Entertaining and enlightening. Mr. Oncoming only got 4 years. Probably managed to keep his meth addiction throughout his stay in the slammer and is now out

Prison should be categorized into meth, paranoid schizo, sex problems, etc. Just throw the like kind together and film the whole thing. For example, meth prison would be a bunch of demo derby cars in a big ring. They could go out and drive and yell "oncoming" until their heart's delight. Get it outta their system, maybe. Deplete their numbers and do so humanely....at least as far as they think of humanity.

pace 1 year, 6 months ago

they were going after guns, in criminal hands. About time, I wonder if any of the were originally sold by the ATF. Too many guns, too easy to get.

Pywacket 1 year, 6 months ago

"Defense attorneys contend the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives paid a "de facto informant" to solicit others to engage in criminal activity and may have helped the agency entrap their clients."

From the comments, it appears that several readers seem to have missed the first three words of that sentence.

What else are the defense attorneys going to say? "You got my client fair and square"?

I won't assume that the cops were dumb enough to blow the whole operation by committing entrapment unless it comes out in court that they did. Until/unless that happens, I think it more likely that the defense attorneys are grasping at straws.