http://www.shipleylegalfund.com/index.php
I went to college with this guy. He’s getting fucked. Send him some money.
I sent $10. Anyone else?
To the point. I love it.
Last update is 06/06/2011. Any new news?
This is insane. Our self-loathing is destroying us, one good man at a time.
This is one reason why I am reluctant to sell guns.
Will be in the mail tomorrow.
The BATFE, yeah this sounds about right. :mad:
OP, please give us any updates as pointed out above the paged linked was last updated back in June. Thx.
Gunrunner or Fast & Furious fall guy?
Is this the latest: LINK
United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that in El Paso this morning, former Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent John Shipley was sentenced to two years in federal prison for violating federal firearms laws.
Senior United States District Judge David Briones also ordered that Shipley be placed under supervised release for a period of three years and complete 250 hours of community service after completing his prison term. Judge Briones also ordered that Shipley forfeit 17 firearms including two .50 caliber Barrett rifles; ammunition in various calibers including over 2,800 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition; one silencer; and, $7,340 in cash seized during the execution of a federal search warrant at Shipley’s residence on May 6, 2008.
“Federal agents are not exempt from the laws which they swore to uphold,” stated United States Attorney John E. Murphy. “Mr. Shipley is being held accountable for his own criminal actions. They are in no way a reflection of the outstanding work being accomplished by dedicated federal, state and local law enforcement across this District and this country.”
This investigation—conducted by agents from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General together with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—commenced with a firearms trace of a .50 caliber sniper rifle sold by Shipley. That rifle was recovered by Mexican authorities following a gunbattle between suspected narcotraffickers and the Mexican military near Chihuahua, Mexico, on March 8, 2008.
“By illegally dealing in firearms, Shipley violated the trust that the public placed in him as a law enforcement official,” said Wayne D. Beaman, Special Agent in Charge, Dallas Field Office, Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. “The Office of the Inspector General is committed to vigorously investigating and referring for prosecution any Department of Justice law enforcement official who engages in this type of illegal conduct.”
“This investigation shows ATF’s commitment into stopping the illegal trafficking of firearms that are fueling the cartel violence south of the border. Along with our associates on both sides of the border, ATF will leave no stone unturned in achieving this goal,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Robert Champion, Dallas Field Division.
On April 14, 2010, a federal jury convicted Shipley of one count of dealing firearms without a license, four counts of causing a firearms dealer to maintain false records and one count of making a false statement to federal authorities. Jurors found that Shipley engaged in the business of dealing in firearms from January 2005 until May 2008, while not being licensed as a federal firearms dealer. Evidence presented during trial revealed that Shipley posted firearms for sale using an Internet website more than 200 times, including multiple postings for many firearms. During that three-and-a-half-year time period, Shipley also purchased at least 54 firearms, then sold at least 51 of those firearms for more than $118,000.
Jurors also found that on four occasions between July 2007 and May 2008, Shipley provided false information on ATF forms 4473 when purchasing firearms at local gun shops stating that he was the actual buyer, when in fact, he was not.
Finally, jurors found that on March 21, 2008, Shipley provided to federal authorities a document—a Dealers’ Firearms Record Book—which Shipley claimed was his only complete and accurate listing of the firearms he bought and sold, knowing that he had another Dealers’ Firearms Record Book which contained a more extensive descriptive and accurate list of firearms he bought and sold.
Assistant United States Attorney Greg McDonald and Juanita Fielden prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Upon further digging, it’s been floating around on various gun/military/police forums for some years but I assumed it was fairly recent. The indictment is very damning, but aren’t they all? The part that seems sketchy to me is buying 54 firearms, then selling 51 of them at profit inside several years’ time. The indictment suggests he used LEO discounts to get better pricing on the firearms he sold. I don’t know any collectors that sell almost everything they buy inside a few years’ time.
QuietShootr, you said you went to college with this individual. Was he a close friend, a roomate, a classmate?
http://www.ticklethewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/fbi-agent-texas-shipley.pdf
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he needs to somehow get out on bail, and leave… just fucking leave. If this is what happens after numerous years of public service, and the FBI allows one of their own to be sandbagged… he doesn’t need to be here.
They had no case, yet still continued to hound him until they got a conviction. This was a completely superfluous criminal trial, with absolutely no merit.
If it were me, I’d jump bail and just fucking leave. I’d go to some other non-extradition country and never look back. It not too difficult to get across the border into Mexico and make your way to another country from there. Shit, I’ll drive him across the border myself.
You can’t fight city hall… I’d rather spend my life on the run with the possibility of escape, than waste away for a crime I didn’t commit.
Fuck this place… I am starting to really see why every other country on Earth hates us. Obama has let go of the reins and we are riding a wild horse to hell…
How is this Obama’s fault? Alphabet-soup federal agencies, not just the ATF, have been railroading people under every administration since their creation, especially whistle-blowers who report under-the-rug-sweepery. This includes the FBI.
Maybe not “Fast and Furious,” but he sure seems to have been playing fast and loose with the regs and dealing with some pretty questionable folks.
Here’s a WSJ article from last May: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604576335162888589404.html
Was his behavior criminal? I don’t have the facts but a jury seemed to think so. Did he exercise some pretty lousy judgment? Sure looks like it to me.
It is complete and total crap that this is going on. It is stories like this that make me wonder, where is this “land of the free” I hear about?
There is no parental control over any federal agency under this administration whatsoever. Things like this may have occurred in the past, but nowhere near as frequently and voraciously as they do under his leadership.
a simple example from current events would be the National Labor Relations Board bringing suit against Boeing and forcing them to arbitrate to retain x number of jobs in a Union bearing State… no legal basis… yet still allowed to continue
Classmate. We were in the same major. I didn’t know him well, but he seemed a decent guy.
And just to clarify my earlier remarks. I’m not looking to through this fellow under the bus. I don’t know all the facts and it sure looks like plenty of folks are working overtime to spin this in whatever direction furthers their particular agenda. Shipley may just be getting ground up in the gears and, if that’s the case, I feel bad for him and his family.
But there seem to be a few more wrinkles to this story than some might want to acknowledge.
I agree. The claims on his website do not seem to explain the volume of guns sold. A jury of his peers convicted him after hearing the available facts. I’m not willing to call the government’s actions foul yet, but I’m willing to hear more.
Like most collectors, he started with the basic model but was soon told about other features by other collectors. He would sell a gun to buy a better model. And now the ATF is accusing him of buying and selling weapons illegally. Do they understand that someone with a passion for their hobby is not a dealer?
No they do not understand that. It is as if FOPA never happened.
But this is EXACTLY the kind of thing that can happen when ATF can legislate by decree with phrases like “ATF has determined…” and “engaged in business for profit” without any specific qualifiers.
In my time involved with the firearms community I have seen some genuine horror stories. This one is bad, but at least the man is alive. I guess they are trying to shift focus from “Fast and Furious” to the “gun running” efforts of other agencies and agents.
He sold it to a COP?!? Is a Sheriff Deputy “questionable folks”? Is selling guns to LEOs bad judgement?!?
Mr. Shipley was also a gun hobbyist who had collected and sold dozens of firearms. He bought the rifle in August 2007—for personal use, he said—paying $8,500 to a Missouri dealer over the Internet, and he sold it days later for $12,000 to an El Paso sheriff’s deputy, to whom he had sold other firearms. From there it was sold to a Mexican national who resold it in Mexico, authorities said in court filings.
Only 28 guns? 2500 rounds?
So a guy likes to buy and trade guns? One woman, lots of guns. I like keeping guns, but after two years, if I haven’t touched one, its days in my safe are limited.
Who hasn’t listed guns on multiple gun forums to sell them?
Federal case and you get a two year sentence? Not a very good return on my tax dollars.