Two United Parcel Service employees were charged with selling stolen firearms from the parking lot of the customer service facility in Landover.
Prosecutors said Jason T. Scott, 26, and Marcus D. Hunter, 23, sold duffel bags full of handguns and semiautomatic rifles, including at least five of nearly two dozen weapons that had been stolen from a gun store in Woodbine, Md., in May, according to court documents filed in federal court in Greenbelt.
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Special agents with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began investigating after they received a tip that Scott was showing off assault-style weapons from the trunk of his blue Toyota Camry at the UPS facility.
“ATF is looking for these firearms,” and the serial numbers needed to be removed, Scott told potential buyers, the charging documents said.
That piqued the interest of law enforcement. Less than a week earlier, on May 27, burglars had stolen similar weapons from the JC Arms near the Carroll County line, including eight AR-15 rifles, two H&K submachine guns and three .22-caliber semiautomatic pistols. The burglars broke into the store by removing a piece of plywood that was covering a broken front window, police said.
Federal agents began recording conversations between their paid informant and Scott and Hunter, and arranged to buy several weapons.
Two weeks later, Scott allegedly sold for $3,000 a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol and three semiautomatic rifles that had been reported stolen from the Woodbine firearms dealer.
ATF agents then arranged to buy 20 firearms for $7,500.
According to court documents, Hunter pulled his gray Lincoln Town Car into the UPS facility at 8440 Ardwick-Ardmore Road on the afternoon of June 19. The informant handed over the cash and Hunter allegedly loaded the guns into duffel bags.
An UPS spokeswoman confirmed that Scott and Hunter worked at the facility, but said the security managers there had not been informed about the arrests or the purchase of the weapons on the company property.
smccabe@washingtonexaminer.com
