March 14, 2011

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY TIMOTHY J. HEAPHY

I. Introduction

Good afternoon and thank you all for being here today. My name

is Tim Heaphy and I am the United States Attorney for the Western

District of Virginia.

It is great to be here in Front Royal, and to spend time with the

men and women who work in local law enforcement to keep you safe.

Given the size of our district, I don’t get a chance to visit often enough.

I have asked everyone here today to announce the resolution of an

important case for our office and for this community - United States v.

Don Simonpietri. Mr. Simonpietri entered a guilty plea this morning

admitting that he unlawfully sold guns without a license and that he

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knowingly sold a gun to convicted felon. Mr. Simonpietri is the final

defendant of seven to take responsibility for illegal gun sales occurring

throughout this community.

In addition to Mr. Simonpietri’s guilty plea, I want to talk about

the forfeiture order entered in his case. That order has allowed us to take

all of these guns displayed today off the street, out of the hands of felons

and other dangerous persons.

I also want to recognize many of the brave men and women

standing behind me for taking on the monumental task of investigating

and prosecuting Mr. Simonpietri, and others. It was a huge undertaking

but one that I know will have a lasting effect on the safety of Front

Royal and our district as a whole.

The Simonpietri case presents an opportunity to talk broadly about

our effort to enforce the laws which govern gun sales. These laws are

designed to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and others

who are deemed dangerous. We work hard to enforce these laws, and to

document the numerous firearms transactions that are consummated

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every day here and elsewhere. When the laws governing firearms sales

are violated, we will react swiftly - as this case demonstrates.

II. Simonpietri Case

Don Simonpietri didn’t start out as a criminal. Rather, he was a

legitimate businessman, operating the Simonpietri Pawn Shop here in

downtown Front Royal. Back in 2005, Mr. Simonpietri had a Federal

Firearm License – a document which allowed him to legally sell guns.

That license required him to document his gun purchases and sales, so

that the government would have a record of where the guns he sold had

been transferred.

In 2005, Mr. Simonpietri had his Federal Firearms License revoked

when a compliance inspection conducted by the ATF found over one

hundred violations relating to his failure to maintain adequate records.

The majority of these violations related to Simonpietri’s failure to keep

records of the sales and acquisitions of firearms.

When Mr. Simonpietri’s license was revoked, he could no longer

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engage in the business of selling firearms.

However, The loss of his license did not stop Mr. Simonpietri from

engaging in the business of selling guns. Instead of obeying the law and

closing up his gun business, Mr. Simonpietri stock piled a cache of more

than 1,000 guns. He acquired additional guns and resold them. He

basically took what had been a legitimate business and took it

underground - to the black market. He continued to sell guns, without

the required license.

In 2009, local law enforcement became aware of Mr. Simonpietri’s

illegal gun business. After receiving numerous reports of suspicious gun

sales taking place at Andrick’s Flea Market, the Front Royal Police

Department, the ATF, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia

State Police, the Warren County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and

the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug Task Force began to investigate.

Over the course of the next several months, agents from the

investigative team made a series of controlled purchases from

Simonpietri and his co-defendant Charles Shipe. These purchases were

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typically made at the flea market. In each case, the undercover

purchaser told Mr. Simonpietri or his co-conspirator that he was a

convicted felon and not legally allowed to buy firearms.

The fact that Mr. Simonpietri and Mr. Shipe were dealing with a

felons was of no concern to either man. Each and every time,

Simonpietri, or his co-defendant, acting on his behalf, sold the

“convicted felon” a firearm. They then tried to cover up the crime, on

one occasion closing the transaction with the line “nobody need to know

nothing.”

Not only did Mr. Simonpietri and Mr. Shipe sell firearms to those

they knew were felons, they did so without keeping records regarding

those gun sales. They kept virtually no records. Nothing at all to

document who had purchased the guns that he continued to illegally sell.

Following the agents’ investigation, Mr. Simonpietri was charged

with a variety of federal crimes. Just this morning in the United States

District Court in Charlottesville, Don Simonpietri pled guilty to one

count of dealing firearms without a license and one count of selling a

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firearm to a previously convicted felon. These charges carry a penalty of

up to 10 years in prison. We will be asking the judge to impose a jail

sentence when Mr. Simonpietri is sentenced later this year.

While both of these charges carry a possible term of incarceration

for the defendant, it is also important to note that as part of his plea

agreement, Mr. Simonpietri has agreed to forfeit to the United States a

Ford Mustang which was used to transport some of the illegal weapons

he is accused of selling.

Most importantly, Mr. Simonpietri has signed an order forfeiting

1,176 firearms– a huge number of guns that will now end up in the

hands of law enforcement rather than in the hands of a criminal. A

fraction of those guns are displayed here today. We display them not as

trophies, but rather as reminders of the potential danger created by Mr.

Simonpietri’s illegal, black market operation.

Every one of these guns could have ended up in the hands of a

convicted felon or some other dangerous person. They could have been

used in violent crimes. We never would have known about these sales,
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as Mr. Simonpietri wrote virtually nothing down.

Fortunately, these guns did not end up in the wrong hands. Rather,

they have been seized from Mr. Simonpietri and forfeited to the federal

government. They will not be used to commit further crimes.

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III. Law Enforcement Work/Seized Weapons

The forfeiture of these weapons would not have been possible

without the fine work of the law enforcement personnel standing behind

me. I want to recognize some of those individuals and thank them for

their hard work in bringing this defendant to justice.

William Metcalf, Special Agent with the ATF

Sgt. Jason Ryman with the Front Royal PD

James Vann, General Counsel with the ATF

NAMES

It is major victory for the safety of our community to have the

opportunity to get this many guns off the streets. Again, these guns could

have been used for any number of improper, illegal ventures. They will

now be taken off the streets and kept out of the hands of felons and

others who could misuse them.

IV. The Importance of Federal Firearms Regulation

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 The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution gives

citizens of our country the right to possess and own firearms. This right

is held dear by Americans and is often invoked as one of the things that

separates the freedom we enjoy from the more limited freedoms

available in other countries. People have worked hard to protect the

Second Amendment through the years. It’s a hallmark of our

democracy.

Most people use guns safely and enjoy recreational pursuits with

their firearms. Hunting and sport shooting are proud traditions in

Virginia, enjoyed by law-abiding men and women across the

Commonwealth. These sportsmen follow the rules. They provide

information about their identity when purchasing guns. They handle

them safely. They realize that with any dangerous instrument comes

responsibility, and they take that responsibility seriously.

As much joy as they bring, guns are undoubtedly dangerous

instruments, capable of all kinds of nefarious uses. They have the

potential to cause great and tragic damage to human life. Because guns

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are dangerous, their sale and use is highly regulated. Federal Firearms

laws are in place for many reasons. They keep weapons out of the hands

of those who no longer have the right to own guns, such as convicted

felons. They also allow law enforcement to document gun sales and

trace ownership - which is frequently useful information when

investigating gun crime. Mr. Simonpietri was surely aware of these

regulations when he obtained his license.

One of those important regulations is the prohibition on possession

of firearms by convicted felons and others. Not everyone is entitled

under our law to own or possess a firearm. Congress has determined that

certain categories of people can’t possess firearms. When someone is

convicted of a felony, whether it be on state or federal charges, they lose

their rights to own or possess a firearm. So does someone who is

convicted of a domestic violence offense, or someone who has been

declared mentally incompetent by a judge in a civil proceeding. These

restrictions are designed to protect the public from danger. They keep

guns out of the hands of people who because of their own actions have

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proven themselves dangerous and unreliable.

Given the inherently dangerous nature of guns, the law also

imposes strict rules on who can sell them. The license requirement is in

place to ensure that only qualified individuals can sell guns. These

individuals must ensure that they don’t sell guns to felons or others

ineligible under the law to possess weapons. They are in effect the first

line of enforcement of the laws restricting gun ownership.

Licensed dealers also have the obligation to keep careful records,

so that we can keep track of who within our community purchases and

possesses guns. These records allow law enforcement to research where

guns originate when they are used in violent crimes. We rely on

accurate records to solve crimes, as that information is often crucial to

piecing together evidence which is used to apprehend violent criminals.

Mr. Simonpietri made it more difficult for us to enforce the law.

He sold to people he believed were felons. He ignored the record-

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keeping requirement. His actions were criminal, and they allowed other

criminals to commit further crimes. The investigation and prosecution

of Mr. Simonpietri should serve as a warning to others that law

enforcement is on point. We are watching, and we are prepared to act

when people ignore these important rules.

My boss, Attorney General Eric Holder, has been a strong

proponent of gun controls, repeatedly calling for more research into

smart-gun technology, something that would limit a gun’s use to its

authorized owner. The Attorney General has also talked about closing

the loop holes in gun show sales and make it a requirement for

background checks to be run on all individuals purchasing firearms at

gun shows, making it much more difficult for guns to end up in the

hands of convicted felons.

Those of us in law enforcement do all we can to enforce the federal

firearms laws. We try our best to keep guns out of the hands of

convicted felons. We prosecute felons who possess guns, as well as gun

dealers who don’t abide by the rules. These investigative priorities are

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motivated by our community safety obligation. They help us ensure that

guns are possessed by those who use them responsibly, not by those who

use them for violence.

V. Conclusion

Mr. Simonpietri never took the responsibility he held as a licensed

firearms dealer seriously enough to obey the laws of the United States.

Today, for breaking those laws, he has been justly brought to justice and

will never again be allowed to sell firearms.

I want to again thank you all for coming this afternoon and will

now answer any questions you may have regarding the case against Mr.

Simonpietri.

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