Saturday, April 29, 2017
Staff report
COLUMBUS
A federal grand jury in Columbus indicted a Youngstown man who investigators claim had a role in selling military rifles to people in Mexico.
Paul Groves, 36, operated High Powered Armory at 2500 Market St. and sold 62 .50 caliber high-powered rifles to a group of people in Indiana who were serving as straw purchasers for Mexican buyers, according to the indictment.
A straw purchaser is someone who states they are the buyer of a firearm they are acquiring for another person.
The indictment claims that the Indiana group was receiving guns from Groves both at his Market Street shop and a shop in Columbus. The purchasers drove some of the guns to McAllen, Texas, where they were resold to Mexican buyers.
The rifles retail for about $8,000, but the indictment says the Mexican buyers paid “extremely high, marked-up prices.”
The sales occurred between March 2014 and April 2015, according to the indictment.
An undercover agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reportedly met Groves at his Market Street shop with a member of the Indiana group to make a purchase April 30, 2015.
The indictment also alleges that Groves possessed a 40 mm machine gun that was not registered to him.
Groves is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.