A New York man was sentenced to serve 3 years in federal prison for illegally obtaining guns from Georgia, officials said Monday.
Gerry Page, 29, of Queens, was sentenced in Atlanta Monday by United States District Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. He was convicted of making the "straw purchases" June 8, said a press release from the office of U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
According to federal prosecutors, Page, in 2009, arranged and paid for a co-conspirator to purchase 16 handguns from a federally licensed dealer in Jonesboro. After each purchase, Page traveled from his home in New York to Georgia to retrieve the firearms. As a convicted felon and a non-resident of Georgia, Page was prohibited from purchasing the handguns.
“No one can accurately tally the total number of firearms straw purchased in the U.S. because these violations often go undetected by law enforcement until the weapons turn up at a crime scene, sometimes months or years after the purchase. As a society we have to recognize that straw purchasing is as reprehensible as the crimes committed with those guns. Straw purchasing isn't a victimless crime, and it is a felony,” said Scott Sweetow, ATF Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Field Division. “This case is one example of the many federal firearms trafficking cases where ATF has ultimately stopped hundreds of illegal firearms from entering cities across the United States and foreign countries.”
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