Ex-Ohio police chief sentenced for role in machine gun trafficking scheme

An ex-Ohio police chief used his badge in a machine gun trafficking scheme geared toward reselling greater than 200 weapons of battle, prosecutors mentioned.

Dorian LaCourse was sentenced to 3 years of probation for his position in shopping for totally computerized machine weapons that had been then resold at a a lot larger value, the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Indiana mentioned.

LaCourse, who used to supervise a police division in a tiny Ohio village, will spend six of these months in house confinement.

Federal legal guidelines ban the acquisition or switch of totally computerized machine weapons until for regulation enforcement, an exception LaCourse, 66, exploited.

Working with two federally licensed Indiana gun sellers, LaCourse signed a number of letters that falsely said the Village of Addyston Police Division needed to purchase various kinds of machine weapons, together with military-grade.

These letters had been then despatched to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by co-conspirators Johnathan Marcum, 34, and Christopher Petty, 58, to get the weapons. The 2 males had been supposed to offer the division demonstrations with the weapons, however by no means did.

LaCourse additionally instantly ordered German-made machine weapons that he mentioned had been paid for by his division, however had been as a substitute bought by Marcum and Petty.

The machine weapons had been resold for 5 or 6 instances the acquisition value, the US Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned

Marcum and Petty pleaded responsible to costs associated to the scheme and shall be sentenced at a later date.

LaCourse initially confronted 17 costs linked to the crime, however ended up pleading responsible to 3 of them in April, in keeping with Fox 19. Prosecutors sought six years in jail as a part of the plea settlement, the tv station reported.

Greater than 200 machine weapons had been illegally obtained and authorities seized greater than 100 machine weapons, 52,500 rounds of ammunition and $6,000 in cash linked to the crime from LaCourse’s workplace desk, the feds mentioned.

LaCourse was the one full-time officer for a village of about 1,000 folks.

“Legislation enforcement officers are sworn to guard our communities and uphold the regulation, and the general public has a proper to anticipate police powers are used for the general public good,” mentioned US Legal professional Zachary Myers, in a press release.

“As an alternative, the defendant offered his badge to facilitate a legal machine gun trafficking conspiracy. With heartbreaking regularity, we see the carnage that criminals can inflict on our communities with weapons of battle. At the moment’s sentence demonstrates that officers who violate the general public’s belief with utter disregard for the general public’s security shall be held accountable.”

LaCourse collected greater than $11,500 from his position. As a part of the sentencing, he was fined $11,800.

An AFT agent known as the plot an “egregious betrayal of the general public’s belief.”

“LaCourse dedicated an egregious betrayal of the general public’s belief by partaking on this machine gun trafficking scheme,” mentioned AFT’s appearing particular agent in cost Travis S. Riddle, of the Columbus division. “I hope that this sentence serves for instance to anybody else on the market who is perhaps tempted to betray their oath of workplace and their accountability to their neighborhood.”