By Lee Williams
By all accounts, Yunis Isaac Mejia was a good guy – certainly not the type of man who should be spending his next two birthdays behind the wire in a federal prison.
Mejia, a former police dispatcher, had never been arrested in his life until he unknowingly invited an FBI informant to shoot steel plates on his five-acre property near St. Cloud, Florida.
Several years before his arrest, Mejia, 28, worked as a 911 dispatcher for the Bonham, Texas Police Department. “He always showed up on time, had a good personality and always got along well with others,” Bonham Chief of Police Mike Bankston said Tuesday.
Chief Bankston said Mejia and two coworkers were officially commended for their work during a 911 outage.
“He and two other dispatchers went the extra mile for an attaboy,” Chief Bankston said. “When 911 went down, one even went to the Sheriff’s Office and helped them. Yunnis (Mejia) was a good guy with a good personality. He got along well with others and never had any complaints.”
Mejia was also a licensed pilot.
He dreamt of someday becoming a commercial airline pilot. But that dream ended when an informant, whom the FBI calls a “Confidential Human Source” or CHS, came over to his house.
Joint Terrorism Task Force
Erika D. Shaw is a Special Agent for the FBI. She is responsible for Mejia’s case, his arrest and, ultimately, for his prosecution.
“I am currently assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (the “JTTF”) of FBI’s Tampa Division, Orlando Resident Agency,” Shaw wrote in Mejia’s complaint. “In this capacity I investigate, among other things, criminal cases relating to international and domestic terrorism.”
In her complaint, Shaw never says why she targeted Mejia, or why the informant was sent to his home.
The informant, or CHS, wasn’t paid for setting up Mejia. Instead, they were cooperating with the FBI to avoid prosecution by ICE.
“The CHS is a reliable source who has, for less than one year, provided accurate and reliable information that has been corroborated by the FBI,” Shaw wrote in the complaint. “Prior to becoming a CHS, the CHS was arrested in or about June 2020 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a charge of Nonimmigrant Student Out of Status: Failure to Attend and was briefly detained.”
The Setup
According to the complaint, on Oct. 29, 2020, the informant first went to Mejia’s home, which Shaw described as a 4.91-acre property with outbuildings including a large metal garage and two pole buildings.
Mejia invited the informant via a text message. The two had been texting for three months.
“The meeting was recorded by a concealed audio device provided to the CHS by law enforcement prior to the scheduled meeting,” Shaw’s complaint states.
Mejia showed the informant three guns including a CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1, which had a suppressor and shoulder stock attached. The informant “surreptitiously” took photos of the Scorpion with a cell phone provided by the FBI.
The two shot the Scorpion at metal plates on Mejia’s wood and earthen berm. The informant tried to take a video of Mejia shooting the weapon, but Mejia stopped him. “It’s not exactly, uh, something that you want to take a video of,” Mejia told him, according to court records.
Mejia invited the informant to shoot with him a second time on Nov. 13, 2020. The informant took video of Mejia shooting the Scorpion by using a concealed video recording device the FBI had given him.
The pair next met for lunch on Jan. 19, 2021. According to the complaint, “the CHS stated that the CHS wanted to purchase a firearm like the Scorpion, and Mejia explained to the CHS that the CHS would not be able to purchase a Scorpion with a stock, because the stock made it a short-barreled rifle.”
“As the conversation between Mejia and the CHS continued, Mejia explained to the CHS that there was a government regulation that one is supposed to comply with to have a short-barreled rifle, and Mejia suggested that he did not wish to comply with that regulation.”
Probable Cause
In January 2021, FBI Special Agent Shaw met with ATF agents and was told that that ATF classifies the Scorpion as a pistol, and under federal law attaching a stock to the pistol makes it a short-barreled rifle, which requires registration and a tax stamp.
ATF traced the serial number of Mejia’s Scorpion and confirmed it was sold to him as a pistol, without the stock.
ATF also confirmed that Mejia had two silencers, which were both lawfully registered in accordance with the National Firearms Act: a 9mm registered in July 2019 and a .45 registered in January 2020. Mejia, ATF confirmed, had no other NFA weapons.
“Therefore, based on the aforementioned, I submit that probable cause exists to believe that Mejia has committed a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), possession of an unregistered firearm,” Shaw wrote in the complaint.
Mejia was arrested on March 23, 2021 and released on pretrial supervision three months later.
Guilty plea
After his arrest, Mejia called his former employer, Chief Bankston, for help. “He told me he had made a bad error in judgement. I sent him a letter of support,” Chief Bankston said. “He called me back and told me he was going to own up to what he did, take his licks and go on with his life.”
“I wish Yunis (Mejia) well,” the police chief said.
Mejia pleaded guilty to one count of Possession of Unregistered Firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. §5861(d), 26 U.S.C. §5841 and 26 U.S.C. §5871. According to the sentencing memorandum, Mejia obtained a commercial drivers license while on pretrial release, and was working as a truck driver.
His sentencing hearing was held July 5, 2022.
“Mr. Mejia is 28 with no prior arrests or charges of any kind. He was in possession of a firearm without registering it, but there is no indication he is involved in any other criminal activity or wrongdoing. He is now labeled a felon because of his plea in this case and will have to live with that forever. We do not believe prison will help society or deter others from committing this sort of crime in the future. This entire experience has been a major wake up call for Mr. Mejia and how strictly enforced this law is. He will never be able to possess firearms again because of this conviction. He has been out on release for over a year following all the conditions placed upon him. We do not believe sending him to prison is going to benefit anyone in a case like this and therefore, are asking the Court to sentence Mr. Mejia to a period of Probation,” his attorney argued.
The court disagreed.
United States District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza sentenced Mejia to 21 months in a federal prison.
“According to evidence admitted during the sentencing hearing, Mejia illegally modified a CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 pistol, with a barrel less than 16 inches long, with an aftermarket shoulder stock. With this modification, Mejia illegally converted the pistol into a short-barreled rifle. Under the federal National Firearms Act, short-barreled rifles are required to be registered,” according to a DOJ press release. “Mejia then offered to sell his illegally modified firearm to a confidential source working at the direction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mejia also provided direction and instruction to the confidential source on how the confidential source could purchase the same model of pistol and modify it himself.”
The press release, which was issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa, points out that Mejia’s case was “prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.”
Project Safe Neighborhoods, the press release states, identifies “the most pressing violent crime problems in the community,” and “focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders.”
No accountability
The FBI was not willing to talk about Mejia’s case. Tampa FBI spokeswoman Andrea Aprea did not return calls or emails seeking comment for this story.
The ATF was not willing to talk about Mejia’s case, either. Tampa ATF spokeswoman Mary Salter initially called because she could not find Mejia in the ATF computer system – her secretary had misspelled Mejia’s name. However, after finding the case, Salter declined to comment.
Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier, who prosecuted Mejia, declined to comment. William Daniels, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa, requested questions in writing, but only answered a few.
Asked if there were violent crimes in the Orlando area involving short-barreled rifles, Daniels replied, “The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting does not track whether the weapon used in a violent crime was modified. For additional crime statistics, you may need to contact the local law enforcement agencies for that jurisdiction.”
Asked if the modification Mejia made to the weapon made it more dangerous, Daniels said, “We do not wish to comment.”
Asked if Mejia profited in any way from his crime, Daniels said, “We do not wish to comment.”
Asked if the 21-month sentence was appropriate for the crime, Daniels provided a copy of the sentencing memorandum, which showed Mejia faced a sentencing range of 21-27 months.
Daniels did not respond when asked why the Joint Terrorism Task Force was involved in the case, or whether Mejia had terrorist ties or suspected terrorist ties (he did not).
Daniels did not respond when asked who was the actual victim of Mejia’s crime, or whether Mejia’s short-barreled rifle was one of the “most pressing violent crime problems in the community,” as specified by Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Neither did Daniels respond when asked if at the end or the day, he believed that justice was served in this case.
Takeaways
It is abundantly clear why no one with a federal badge in their billfold wants to talk about this case. It is a joke – a gross overreach – a sham.
It’s clear Special Agent Shaw and her bosses saw Mejia solely as a quick stat – an easy arrest to pump up their Project Safe Neighborhood numbers, and a way to let their superiors in Washington D.C. know Orlando FBI is hard at work keeping the neighborhoods safe.
Did Mejia break the law? Of course, he did.
Does he deserve to spend nearly two years behind bars for it? Of course, he doesn’t.
Picture Mejia sitting at his kitchen table with his Scorpion in one hand and the after-market stock in the other. When they’re attached, he’s committing a felony. When he takes them apart, he’s abiding by the law. Together – felony. Apart – no crime.
That is the absolute lunacy of the National Firearms Act. This is a victimless crime, after all. Who was harmed?
This case certainly doesn’t merit secret informants, covert video and audio recorders, agents from both the FBI and the ATF, search warrants for his property, seizures of his firearms and computers, and a lifelong felony record for a good kid who just likes to shoot plates safely on his own private range.
To be clear, Mejia was not a prohibited person – although he is now. He had a valid Florida Concealed Weapon and Firearm License, and he’s been through the NFA process twice when he successfully registered his 9mm and .45 suppressors.
This case highlights the vast difference between federal and local law enforcement. A police officer or sheriff’s deputy would have likely warned Mejia not to attach the stock, instead of treating him like he’s St. Cloud, Florida’s newest Al Qaeda sleeper cell.
The bottom line is this, if Mejia’s case is typical of the type of cases the FBI is generating, they clearly need more important things to do.
Perhaps they could use their time better by following up on the tips that they apparently receive quite often, about suspicious people who threaten to commit violent acts in our nation’s schools.
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This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.
All the things I want to say would just get moderated into oblivion.
Yeah, don’t say soc!@[ism
Socialism
and socialists.
I’ll go there.
If the dude was non-white there ain’t no way they would have bothered.
Certified known felony gang bangers getting let off scott free when caught holding hot gats while this dude rots for pinging steel in his back yard.
F the system and throw sand in the proverbial governmental gears whenever you have the chance.
2, I think Mejia is a Hispanic name.
Hispanic is “adjacent white” in the language of the Leftists.
Okay… Live your life, dude. It’s not about white or black these days, it’s about money. If you don’t have large sums, you can be victimized. That applies across the board, regardless of skin tone. I wish I could say something that could open your eyes, but I fear that’s not the case. Please, live your life and love the people in your life that matter. All I can say is that I wish you no ill will, and we both have to live in and share this country and it’s land. PS, I’m black, bub. Peace.
So you’re saying that gang bangers are not being set free in the woke cities when nabbed with easily prosecutable convictions?
The rising crime rates would tell a different story.
They are not being released because they are rich, they are being let out because they have the correct BIPOC skin tone.
It’s worse than that. Official ATF documents were leaked this winter in which they describe their policy of “not overpolicing black and brown communities.” There are rules, laws, and consequences, but only for Whitey.
The simple fact is what when dealing with real criminals the US Attorneys all over the country consider status offenses like this one simply as bargaining chips to be discarded as part of getting a quick and easy guilty plea to some reduced offense. Meanwhile, any otherwise-law-abiding citizen has to be hammered because there is nothing to trade-off.
Mejia wasn’t dangerous, but he was outrageously stupid — which made him an easy target for a handful of federal agents who needed a quick and easy score for their next rating evaluation period.
White trash tweekers are being let out and not prosecuted just like people of color. If they do not have money to pay a fine, the county/state doesn’t want to feed and house them in jail. The judges have forced prisons to scale back to 3x capacity rather then 5x or more. They do not want to build new jails. The extra long sentences incurred in the 90s have added to the full capacity for years. The prisons are becoming old age homes for burned out criminals. Many state prisons have dumped convicts on county jails, that really are not equipped to handle them, so misdemeanor crime has to be handled with probation, fines, threats, or just ignored.
Putting someone in jail for 20-30 years for a so-called “victimless crime” just takes up space for 4 regular sentences for real crimes.
There is a point where enough time will change the criminal and make him/her start all over again. A 4 or 5 year time out is enough to send that message – it may be too long and just institutionalize the convict.
Is it all punishment or should it have some redeeming value as a try at rehabilitation?
Just asking
Goes to show how a history confirmed agenda rooted in racism and genocide called Gun Control is alive and well today…
All it took for the same level of treatment was being a Jim Crow era Black American with a firearm or in nazi germany being a Jew trying to get a firearm. Today in America all it takes is being an inch short.
You can find me on dailywire.com as “secession 2.0” and there is a reason I like that handle. Go talk to some commenters/leftists at crooksandliars.com. They absolutely 100% support imprisoning gun owners for small victimless crimes like these and would like to implement more laws like this. In one sentence they complain about the justice system and lots of blacks in prison for small marijuana crimes and complaints toward the prison industry, then in another sentence advocate for the gun hobbyist to spend their lives in prison and forever labelled a felon, and happy that they can’t get a job after they get labelled “felon” while calling them ammosexuals.
You can’t reason with these people. Best just to separate from them.
It still makes brings a smile to my face knowing that the guy pushing the California Secession after 2016 went home to Russia after their attempt failed miserably.
Maybe you should just just fight the NFA in court if you have that big of an issue filing the paperwork for that $200 stamp? That would accomplish so much more than being an edgy pseudonym in the comment section of blogs.
My question is, why should I have to pay a tax to exercise a right enshrined in the Constitution? If the People are are essential to the Militia, shouldn’t they be able to provide their own combat arms?
There is no “just separating from” these people. Their ideology won’t let them leave us alone. They hate us, want to see us in concentration camps, say so openly, and are working tirelessly to bring it about.
For the sake of argument let’s say that there was a treaty and Soviet Kaliforniastan peacefully left the union, complete with decommissioning and closure of all former US military bases there, a new currency, border guards, and all that. It wouldn’t be a week before Chinese bombers with live nukes on board were lined up on the tarmac at Edwards and Vandenberg. A week after that hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops would be climbing out of container ships in the ports of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Gavin Newsom, London Breed, and Eric Garcetti would be begging them to go up and make examples of those deplorable huh-WITE! people in Orange County.
Woke ideology won’t let them let us live in peace. They won’t negotiate in good faith. Anything handed over to them will be turned against us as a weapon. History shows it. We aren’t voting our way out of this. There is no political solution. Interesting times are coming. Harden your heart.
Heroes. Never forget their sacrifices as they goad and threaten the developmentally challenged to commit kidnappings, encourage druggie outcasts to shoot-up schools, snipe from afar mothers holding their babies, shoot fleeing children in the back, torch 76 huddling and frightened women and children, disseminate gigabytes of child porn around thee world in countless honeypots, dutifully bury the criminal acts of our glorious regime elites and now chase down productive members of society for what amounts to a crime of paperwork.
Bless these brave souls for the work they do to keep us all safe.
Right. All this work and money to throw a good person in federal prison. I guess tracking down real dangerous folks is too much work or too scary.
You would not want our beloved feds involved in going after the over 100,000 gang members in Chicago and thousands more elsewhere. They might get hurt.
Well, they’re super busy tracking down real threats like irate parents and Trump’s alleged Russian contacts. At some point, though, jury nullification will render the Utterly Partisan FBI toothless.
They just go for the low hanging fruit. Easier than doing any real work.
Look, this is obviously cruel and unusual punishment based on a political government pissing match between the Abbot people and the Brandon’s sycophant racist bureaucracy agencies who under the severely ‘damaged’ and unaccountable criminal justice system will never get held acountable for their own criminal acts of Deprivation of Rights and failure to prosecute Real Crims like the illegal out of control organized gang crimes in Chicago and big cities are not going to let some old Longhorn cowboy State tell this neo Marxist administration who can enter their state illegally across the border or dictate that suppressors in their state are not regulated under NFA laws? We’ll show them sod-busting cow pie smelling dudes who’s boss of the applesauce!
Felony conviction and hard time for a freaking TAX violation fraudulently passing itself off as a violent criminal act that didn’t even have a victim? For a First Offender, no less! No wonder those involved with this Hitlarian Racist prosecution are ashamed to talk! When Corporatist entities defraud thousands and steal millions and get away with an affordable fine and a slap on the wrist?
I’d like to know how this ‘informant’ and Medjia met? Was it an internet chat that so many get entrapped on? The guy seems like he’s not that stupid but he’s young and probably not that seasoned in the Machiavellian Machinations of a corrupted Totalitarian G?
Or was it part of that new tactic the eye in the sky is using to Surveille someone around the clock with their rather expansive fleet of small well equipped planes? Like they did with that guy at the Mosque in Florida, I think, a short while ago expending amazing Tax dollars following him from the air non stop for weeks, I think it was?
I guess if you did that in areas in TX that you ‘know’ people do a lot of recreational shooting, which would be easy to do, it would be easy peasy to then spot someone shooting privately on their own property and record what kind of firearm was being used, noticing the potential of a possible NFA infraction and following up with a planned/contrived contact for probable cause and arrest set up?
Yup, as they say in dem dare parts, it looks like we all just gotta deal with being being so shocked and angry at this right now and expect the worse to come, and double down on our efforts to flip the Congress and the Senate back to Constitutional Liberty by simply repealing ALL Gun laws and forcing Law enforcement to stop All Rights Depriving Infringements, or face going to jail themselves.
This poor kid’s whole future is changed because of something that is Not a crime to begin with. It’s not just the time. But he could lose his property if he can’t work for an income and everything he owns when the total price is added up?
AND, to add drop-kick when you are face down in shit, a go fund me page might not work because I hear they won’t allow it for criminal defenses and expenses?
I have done the form 1 twice. The first time I had the stock stored at a friends home and I got lazy with the second keeping it in my house in the factory sealed packaging. Then I waited for the stamp to assemble the guns. Just for this reason. Waste of $400.
The not so funny thing here is that there are certain braces on a pistol that are legal and can be held on the shoulder and are not considered a short barrel rifle. There are blade braces on some pistols which if left as is are legal and if you add a plastic insert into the round opening at the top and a flat surface across the black of the blade it is considered a short, barreled rifle.
In essence there is no practical difference whatsoever in function and in all cases you can rest the back of the pistol on your cheek which is legal or on your shoulder which is not. What a joke. This is why the EPA and other agencies will be taken to court because they develop illegal regulations without Congressional approval to do so. They cannot make regulations out of the clear blue because they want to. Many of these items are going to be overturned as a result of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on regulations and the 2nd Amendment.
Sounds like a case for the Supreme Court.
That’s what I was thinking. since the author is Lee Williams who is part of The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project I wonder if an SAF appeal or law suit is about to be unveiled.
I hope so. This is a somewhat ideal test case, specifically since SCOTUS has shown (much to my jaw dropping surprise) a recent backbone in regards to prior bad rulings – which the Miller case certainly was.
The bottom line is. Don’t tell no one nothin!!!
He sounds like an terrorist plant. NOT. What a great way to inspire patriotism, by putting someone in prison and removing his God given rights, for actually having some safe fun and sharing that with another person. Maybe it’s time to disband the BATFE, get rid of the NFA, and GCA, and tell the FBI to focus on real criminals like Hillary, Pelosi, and the Biden crime syndicate
It’s stuff like this that reminds me the patriot act needs to be allowed to sunset and several agencies need a haircut. Getting rid of the NFA/Hughes/multiple state restrictions on NFA items would be nice too.
Well, that’s the other thing this was about. They know it’s going to be difficult to actually slow the amassing of firearms and eventually getting people willingly to turn in the shit that ‘they’ make illegal by Fiat Mandate.
So they make this kid an example of what they are going to do to you if you don’t immediately comply when they really begin to turn up the heat.
Right out of a chapter from ‘Mein Kampf’
A whole bunch of our time and money for this????? Meanwhile the unidicted son of the president is still runnin around loose! Hmmmmmm!!
On the beach with his pants off.
Did Hunter get party tips from Ted Kennedy? 🤔
Hannity posted this on rumble “Hunter Biden Videos Himself on the Beach Showing How He Lost His Pants”
https://rumble.com/v1bv0lb-hunter-biden-videos-himself-on-the-beach-showing-how-he-lost-his-pants.html?mref=6zof&mc=dgip3&ep=2
What a strange thought process.
Can’t find his pants, decides to make a video about it.
This is the smartest guy Brandon knows. 🤪
TV says look in the microwave. “Hunter” what a useless oxygen thief.
Hannity is controlled opposition and entirely irrelevant. If he’s saying look at this… Look somewhere else because he’s running cover stories to keep your eye off the real issues.
Don’t we all feel safer now that this guy is no longer running free on the rural roads of Fannin County, getting approached by immigrant students turned State’s Evidence to buy illegal configurations of otherwise legal firearms on private property?
A waste of time, money, and resources. A ridiculous Investigaton, arrest and prosecution. I hope he decides to appeal this conviction.
The FBI agent and judge should be tried in a revolutionary court, convicted of treason and hanger by the neck until expiration.
I firmly believe some laws are specifically designed to trip the law abiding gun owner up and that is how they will confiscate a lot of guns. Years ago, I was on public shooting range. I struck up a friendly conversation with the guy at the next table. He was shooting an AR15 with a vertical grip on it. He took the grip off and attached it to the front end of his pistol on the accessory rail. There were others shooting and I told him that I’m no fed, but my understanding is that he just committed a felony and I suggested he remove it immediately before the wrong person notices. He removed it immediately. Some of the laws are so silly and obscure, they’re easy to unknowingly break.
Anyone think it’s gross the FBI/ATF told an attractive young woman she can either be deported or used to throw innocent people in jail? By the photos it looks like she had a camera hidden in her hat. Or glasses and was taller than himself. After they were done with her they probably deported her anyway for being gulable. If I’ve learned anything from this it’s when shooting with friends, everyone must do so fully naked.
“Did Mejia break the law? Of course, he did. ”
FALSE! The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the United States. Any “law” repugnant to the Constitution is void.
The constitution was the law of the land for the USA. That’s not what we are anymore. More like the USSR.
Criminals are too hard to deal with. They know how to work the system, and are harder to control. Like my daddy said they didn’t get in to law enforcement because they wanted to work hard. Boy you are a lot easier for them than a real criminal, they will lock you up for life.
So much truth to that. I remember a case a few years ago where a DC resident was caught with an EXPENDED shotgun shell in his car. Law abiding citizen and they wanted to throw the book at him! Meanwhile, they let repeat offenders out with no bail and no monitoring.
Or the news anchor that had a 30rd mag on national TV from NYC.
It was Chuck Todd, on NBC’s Meet the Press. That originates in Washington, DC, which also has a “high capacity” magazine ban.
Newshawk, close, just so you and anyone else reading have the right name when they google it, it was David Gregory.
My fear when everyone says ” enforce the laws we have” is that they will. On legal honest citizens. Their job is to make new fellons every day, and they have bs regulations to do it.
Felon
Brewing
Inc.
I had a laugh at a video where a Chinese citizen was trying to report a subversive person was going to visit the country, but they only way that could be found was if the good citizen used a VPN, which is illegal in China.
The police took the easy way out and arrested the good citizen who admitted to using a VPN in the name of national security.
Isn’t it great when perpetrators openly confess and present themselves for arrest?
I wonder if the good citizen is still a patriotic true believer?
OK, FBI. Now do Hunter Biden.
If the Fat, Bald, and Ignorant would actually PROSECUTE Hunter “Crackhead, Whorebeater” Biden for his RECORDED violations of federal gun law, Bubba would be happy to “do” Hunter Biden. As it is, the only people who will be “doing” Hunter “Crackhead, Whorebeater” Biden are grieving widows and (PAID) crackwhores. And perhaps, once upon a time, Jeffrey Epstein.
Or pantifa, but you don’t lock up your coworkers.
Sounds like the same deal they did with the woman that betrayed Dillinger but she got deported anyway.
Dear FBI;
Thank you for capturing this person for the violent and dangerous monsterous criminal act of attaching a piece of plastic to his lawful fire arm.
I know now the FBI is on guard against such and I now feel safer.
Yours
Dacian Jamal Akim
Head Terrorist In Charge cell 93.
This is how it works. Maybe you live in a “Second Amendment sanctuary” and are on good terms with your local police. You figure the feds don’t have the resources or even have cause to suspect you, but then someone with legal problems hears you might have something worth snitching on and you are made an example.
Unjust laws can and will be used against you and your life will be f’d up forever. This is our government at work.
Most of the “laws” they use are victimless, paperwork, bs designed to create felons and keep the numbers up so they get more budget money.
Pretty much how most dictatorships work. Sure would have been cool to know what a country run by a constitution actually was like. It’s all just nostalgia at this point like voting.
The real point here is in order for him to be a felon, he has to do a year and a day in prison. Allowing someone to plea to a felony without the time should NOT be considered a felony. I know of a person who plead to a felony for having a few ar15 handguns(illegal in Ca) that had never been fired and he was out in 10 days.
If the crime is bad enough to take away your gun/voting rights, there should be the year in jail also.
I sympathize with him, but he knew the law and how serious it is taken. After the BS that started Ruby Ridge(I believe the government cut the shotgun down to make sure it was illegal), we all must be on our best behavior.
That’s one approach.
Or, we all just say screw’em and live as we choose.
Let them lock up 100,000,000 people.
They can’t do that, but they will make an example of enough persons to cow the majority into compliance.
That’s how our government works, through fear and intimidation
That is fine, if you are willing to take the chance. You should hope for like minded people on your jury, but it is a chance I don’t want to take.
They will always seek to make an example of hobbyists and people in the business. We should know better.
We all know that the laws make no sense. Suppressors, short barreled rifles, high capacity mags, ect have different laws in other states and countries. We need to change the laws, but ignoring then gives the government an excuse to put us away.
It is not that I agree with these laws, but automatic mode, gimmicks that mimic it, short barreled shotties are designed for offensive use, or are toys for the range. I can understand why some people don’t agree with them.
I don’t have a use for them, but they should be legal for those that wish to have them.
‘
understanding why people don’t agree with your un-infringeable Constituional right is non-sequitor when your rights are NOT to be questioned at all. All you have to understand is that’s it is absolutely none of their business to question your Natural Constitutional Rights, you are not obligated or required to explain or tolerate or give the time of day to or give a shit at all about someone who complains or disagrees with one of your rights. Period! A right needs No justification for its existence.
Sometimes, if there’s a group around paying attention when someone asks me “But why to you need an AR-15 for self defense when there are pistols and shitguns and so on?” I don’t bother with the reality that uninfringed access to optimal and equal firearms to government enforcement is the foundation of our protection against Tyranny which has been well proven by history compared to nations without well armed citizens, I answer:
Why do you need a pistol or shotgun when there are other tools for self defense?
Why do you need a big Truck when there are small electric vehicles?
Why do you need a Dobe or German Shepard, when there are yorkies and poodles?
Why do you need a 4 bedroom 4 Bathroom 3500 square foot house, when there are great homes under 800 sqare feet?
Why do you need to have such a high capacity of so many kids when there are families that have one or two
I keep doing this until they STFU and walk away or say they get the point.
“Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.”
Now we know why actual crime violent and otherwise is flourishing.
Good Soldiers fall on their sword, out of a sense of honor. This is all well and good, except when dealing with the corrupt and dishonorable, like the FBI and BATFE.
Put before a jury, it would be interesting to hear the government explain that “pistols” are designed to be fired with one hand and therefore the foregrip makes his weapon an AOW or “Any Other Weapon”, which is a standard BATFE pulled out of their ass. Showing videos of hundreds or thousands of people shooting a pistol with two hands and asking if they were “remanufacturing” their firearm as the BATFE tried to postulate in one of their letters regarding pistol braces, would undermine the feds credibility.
A good trial attorney would also present an Scorpion with a “Arm Brace” attached and make the government explain to the jury how one is legal and one is illegal. They would also ask that if he had simply paid a $200 Tax to the government, he wouldn’t be in the dock.
They would also be able to depose the “Secret Witness” and the FBI’s motivations for targeting the suspect.
Based upon the facts and the lack of harm to anyone, a sensible jury would likely acquit the defendant. The government might ask to destroy the weapons and the seized suppressors, but that is a small price to pay, If he was convicted, he would also have the right to appeal and perhaps get to the Supreme Court and challenge the validity of the NFA as a whole.
Instead, he is a felon and gets to rot in jail. Stupid is, as stupid does. Resist Tyranny, Never Submit.
Yeah I’d like to think I would have gambled on having one patriot out of 12 in Florida.
The other problem is they will try to bankrupt you by repeatedly charging you even if you do get a hung jury.
I have seen clips of ATF agent training videos with two handed pistol gripping being nearly exclusively utilized…. time to round them ALL up.
The NFA is nonsense and the enforcement is selective. Both are true.
That said, he knew what he was doing. He took the risk and he got burned by that decision.
The proper remedy here is NFA repeal (or to have it struck down by the judiciary) followed by an expungement of all convictions/sentences obtained under the NFA.
Until then, the law is the law.
“The proper remedy here is NFA repeal (or to have it struck down by the judiciary)…”
‘Heller’ spoke on this, the ‘dangerous weapons’ bit. I don’t think outright repeal would fly, even for Thomas.
What I can see is, getting the 200-dollar tax stamp stricken as being a ‘Poll Tax’ and getting the full auto registry re-opened. The extensive vetting will most likely stay, but they can damn sure streamline the process to 90 days max, eFile proves that can be done.
I honestly don’t have much of a problem with the extensive vetting part. Efforts ought to be made to filter out those who may want evil carnage. One school shooting with a registered NFA devices could well result in confiscation of existing registered weapons.
But I would love to have a giggle-switch on a G17 configured as a PDW with a forward grip and a full-auto rated can… 🙂
Interesting to note that we can’t get shit done in this country about anything significant but over in Commie China they put out hard mandates and then recind them in two days when they get enough pushback on social freakin’ media.
I suspect the difference being that the CCP is smart enough to know which side it’s bread is buttered on in terms of longer aspirations to continue breathing. Ours don’t have that kind of sense.
Personally, I’d classify dangerous and unusual as indiscriminate weapons (nuke, chemical, bio, large explosive, MANPADs) where you’ll almost certainly affect an innocent person. I think this is a perfect candidate for a rehearing of Miller. Miller ruled that 2A protects arms that ‘has today any reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia’ and ‘is any part of the ordinary military equipment, or that its use could contribute to the common defense.’ Miller was ruled without any testimony from the defense. Here, the only offense is an NFA violation, so it’s worth it to him to try to overturn. Combined with Bruen, he could enter evidence that standard infantry equipment today includes barrels less than 16 inches (14.5 M4 and 10.5 Mk 18), machine guns (M16, M4), destructive devices (grenades), and SBS (M26 MASS and <18 versions of Rem 870 MCS and Moss 590A1).
Don’t tell nobody nothin’! Had an acquaintance go to prison for selling a little pot to a narc. Very little. Now there’s a pot shop on every corner. This dude knew the risk but did it any way. A victimless “crime”…
Of course Judge Mendoza was appointed to the federal bench by Obama.
Never doubt for a second that those people (Democrats, especially the “progressive” variety) literally hate us.
I don’t know the details except as reported. I will say if this account is accurate it makes me ashamed to have been an LEO. I worked often with the Feds. Was even sworn as one. I will say this, I saw more over zealous arrests and prosecutions with them than any of other agencies I ever worked with. As an aside, most of the ATF agents were the easiest going of all. Just my jurisdiction. Can’t speak for elsewhere. When I worked with the U.S. Marshals, all we wanted to do was put our hands on bad guys with open warrants. Up to the other guys to investigate things. Sometimes, it was fun.
As much as I’d like to see the entire agency abolished, I’ve had the same experience with ATF agents. They’ve been great to work with. To be fair, I have so damn many licenses now (paying to exercise your rights is, sadly, the American way) that I’d have to go out of my way to commit a violation, but it would be really easy for me to get paperwork wrong and have those licenses pulled. The guy I work with gave me his mobile number and has always answered my questions and helped me out with that paperwork. He sent me journals filled with examples, and since he sent them to me, I have a written copy that “THIS” is the way the ATF told me to fill it out. No defense is perfect, but that’s a pretty good one.
So the mob representative you are in contact with is a nice guy? Cool story. Almost makes Waco, Ruby Ridge, and the trampling of our rights worth it. Tell him thanks for being like Bill Gates for dogs and thinning the heard. Puppy overpopulation and all…
Most times I’ve had my rights violated by a badge it seemed like they were having fun too. One man’s fun is another’s tyranny. Just depends what side of the blue line your on.
That was not a good way to save $200.
If he had a go fund me I’d throw him some money.
He probably got azz raped financially.
Never show off the illegal guns on a first date. Surely you can find something legal to plink with.
No kidding
“Erika D. Shaw is a Special Agent”
I have names for her. Special Agent isn’t one of them. Mejia had 2 legal suppressors that in and of itself opens the door to a visit by BATFECES at any given time. Sad sad story.
If the “Joint Terrorism Task Force” doesn’t make a case then there’s no need for a “Joint Terrorism Task Force”.
This is SOP for any federal law enforcement agency. Over 95% of the current Tampa “Joint Terrorism Task Force” cases are “active” but for all practical purposes going nowhere or of a critical nature.
Any Judge with a little common sense, and an ATF agent with enough brains to come in from the rain would have a very simple solution. Take the damn stock off the gun and register/pay the tax, then re-assemble the weapon. I’d be willing to be money the FBI and the BATF could easily find real criminals with real intent to cause harm within 10 miles of the courthouse.
i don’t understand, maybe i missing a few new laws passed since ruby ridge—-a citizen, on his own property, with a gun he legally owned, did some work on it. he did not sell or try to sell it, (which i remember as being a crime). i remember seeing 1911’s with a wooden shoulder stock, being recently and legally for sale on a firearm site.
what do you call 1000 feds at the bottom of the sea?… an excellent start!!
The little city of Tampa has an Fibby office? With enough “agents” they need a “spokesman”? Who is SO BUSY she needs/rates a SECRETARY???
The prog administrative state is so pathetic.
“Did Mejia break the law? Of course, he did. ”
No he didn’t.
What he did was not pay them $200.00 to say it was legal for him to exercise a constitutional right.
The call it a tax but treat it like a fee in reality. Its basically extortion.
If one were to submit the form, pass the background check, but not send the $200.00 they would not approve because the money wasn’t paid and processing would stop.
Under the same conditions if the money was sent they would continue processing and approve (eventually).
That is not a tax, its an extortion fee for exercise of a constitutional right and its unconstitutional and illegal.
All taxes are extortion. Same with speeding tickets.
Lamp said just what I was thinking. POS Hunter Bidet lies on fed form about drug use AND records himself consuming said illegal substance and STILL walks free and this poor kid makes a small lapse of judgement and pays dearly. OMG frickn insanity.
If this is a crime, then why, why is not Hunter Biden not in prison. it can be documented that he was a crack addict when he lied on a 4473 form and purchased a firearm and then illegally transfered the same weapon. ATF? Any one care? This is why nothing matters anymore. . Laws no longer matter.
Because we don’t have the rule of law, we have the rule of man. Truth is flexible to meet the party’s ends and that’s exactly what it does. Welcome to marxism comrade. You can vote your way in, but you have to shoot your way out.
This guy has no one to blame but himself. Are most federal gun laws stupid? Yes, maybe, no? It doesn’t matter. The fact is he: 1. knowingly did something he knew was a federal offense. Then 2. he did it in front of someone else (witnesses). You can even go to federal prison for violating EPA laws by plugging your egr valve on your vehicle. The Hell’s Angels always had a saying “two people can always keep a secret if one of them is dead”
Interesting read from ammoland. It appears the stocked-pistol is a sbr thing was just another regulatory decision.
https://www.ammoland.com/2021/09/atf-included-shoulder-stocked-pistols-short-barreled-rifles-1961/
well, yes it was just another regulatory decision. That’s been known for a while. ~90% (almost) of the ATF ‘rules’ are just another regulatory decision. The ATF has been off reservation for a long time, they have been making things up to satisfy the political winds that blew the strongest using an authority they do not have.
This guy was a blithering fool but he did break the law and he did get sentencerd within usual legal framework allowances.
But, and here’s the point as I see it, his real sin was to give information and encouage at least one other to do the same. I don’t see why so many see this whole incident as evidence of some kind of racial, ethnic and social bias. It seems fromm other blogs her that far too mant dom not see the problem here .
THe Authorities were doing their job and probably had evidence that, for all they knew, this guy was just maybe preparing to take part in some kiind of terrorist activity and was actively recruiting others to do the same and set up a ‘sting’ operation.
What would have been the reaction if indeed this was a precursor to a TERRORIST ACTION and the authorities had not taken preventative action??
The fact is the guy got a 21 month sentence as a discouragement to others and just maybe helped to close down a loophole in the law. I think it’s pretty damn idiotic that the MANUFACTURE of these kinds of ‘conversion’ kits and ‘pistols’ that can be converted is not banned and the manufacturers closed down.
Don’t you have some windows to tax? Mr. I don’t see the problem as social bias. Get bricking up your windows, that was a good law right?
The problem with this story, is the law is stupid. Beyond retarded. Both are 100% legal to own, but putting them together = felony. It’s stupid. It’s a crime with no victim. The crime is you have offended the gov and the morons who voted for that law. And those people are bigots. Gun owner bigots. They don’t like the culture of gun owners, that is why the FBI agent that pursued likely pursued it. He doesn’t care. Get those gun owners! And leftists like it. They want every gun owner in a prison cell while they simultaneously complain about how the US imprisons more people than any other country. 2 years in prison. What was this guy’s crime? Did he hurt someone? No. All it is, is a bunch of tyrants and bigots, hating on gun owners. The end.
If this guy was going to go on a shooting spree, drive by shooting, or bank robbery, etc., this law would have stopped nothing. He would put it on this gun with zero hesitation, and then done it. This is a law, against the gun hobbyist. That is what this law is for.
Totally delusional. News flash. Criminals aren’t going to bother registering their firearms and silencers. This guy did that. He followed all the rules, except he put a stock on a pistol and then hurt no one.
If I dragged your 80 something year old frail body out in the street and then beat the shit out of you, until literal shit squirted out of your ass, I would have gotten a lesser sentence. So you can GFY!
The authorities had no evidence and he was charged with nothing else. They were clearly aware he was no danger to anyone, since going from a pistol to a pistol with a stock (had he used an arm brace the issue would have been moot with no loss of functionality for him) resulted in nothing more or less dangerous. He was guilty of being stupid and absolutely nothing more. Given that he abided by the NFA for his suppressors, he would only have had to fill out the paper work and pay $200 for the SBR. His guilt was in not filling out the paper work, and for this he gets almost 2 years in prison and is now a felon from here on. In the wise words of Dickens “The law is a ass—an idiot.”
Ultimately his crime was not forking over the $200 and the however many month wait for his NFA permission stamp to fancy up his toy. Personally I dislike the NFA but if you want to play with the toys then fork over your money or find other things to play with. When you know the attachment is illegal you play with the devil because the only time NFA regs stick is when they are the ONLY charges and they usually are just rubber stamp charges for easy numbers. Remember the Feds have a hideously high conviction rate because they choose the EASY to get cases and stand on wearing you down with all their power. Innocence or guilt really has very little to do with any of that
Yet another example of why all CIs and undercover government employees should be considered violations of both the 4th and 5th Amendments.
Both are proven liars who have lied about who they are and what their intentions are. Would not trust anything either said in court.
Praise be to RINO Trump! Big Macs be upon him!
I guess they’re looking to have another ruby ridge.
This is why you never admit guilt and never talk to police. Keep your stupid trap shut.
Good people get a better shake at the sentencing if they say nothing.
If the law is unjust, you need to say nothing to get the best outcome. If the law is just, you still need to say nothing so the court has to prove its case.
You dont just give in.
This article made me physically ill.
However, I thank you immensely for posting this. People NEED to see what our “government” is “up to”.
Well, if the FBI isn’t smart enough to catch bad guys, they might as well catch a “fish in a barrel” bad guy to justify their existence.
Those are your small town values, snitching on your neighbor for a pat on the back.
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