Former BCSO sheriff, undersheriff named in cross-country machine gun scheme
Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
5 min read
Oct. 26—Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales and Undersheriff Rudy Mora are named — but not charged — in an alleged scheme to illegally acquire machine guns for firearms dealers and gun enthusiasts in Albuquerque and elsewhere.
James Christopher Tafoya, the owner of the now-shuttered JCT Firearms in Albuquerque, is charged with conspiracy to violate federal gun laws, unlawful importation of a firearm and making false statements in firearms records in the case.
Federal authorities say Gonzales and Mora, who was chief of Laguna Pueblo police at the time, submitted more than 100 letters to Tafoya, asking for the import of automatic weapons for a demonstration, in case BCSO or Laguna police wanted to purchase them.
Automatic weapons have been restricted in the U.S. for decades but, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, can be imported following a written request by a local law enforcement agency, known as a law or demo letter.
Mora and Gonzales submitted dozens of such letters to Tafoya requesting ATF approval for more than 1,000 machine guns or short-barrel rifles, according to court records. Of the machine guns requested, more than a dozen were imported into the country by the alleged ringleader in the scheme, Sean Sullivan.
It is unclear from charging documents if Mora or Gonzales benefited from the alleged scheme in any way or if any of the guns made it to Tafoya.
"At the time they signed the law letters... (Gonzales) and (Mora) had no expectation or understanding that such weapons would ever be demonstrated to their respective law enforcement agencies," according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court of Maryland, where Sullivan lives.
Also charged in the case are Matthew Hall, former chief of police in Coats, North Carolina; James Sawyer, chief of police in Ray, North Dakota; and Larry Vickers, a firearms dealer and enthusiast who reviews guns on YouTube.
Gonzales and Mora could not be reached Thursday and did not return calls and messages for comment.
Gonzales was sworn in as BCSO sheriff in 2009 and retired in 2022 after launching a failed bid to become mayor of Albuquerque. Gonzales swore Mora in as undersheriff in 2014, and Mora retired in 2019. He is still listed as chief on Laguna Pueblo police website, but a dispatcher said he left "two years ago."
BCSO spokeswoman Jayme Fuller said the agency was in touch with the ATF and "is devoted to ensuring we cooperate with all partners to investigate any form of corruption."
"Due to the ongoing investigation, Sheriff (John) Allen will not be providing interviews related to the indictment at this time," Fuller said.
Fuller did not answer follow-up questions and would not say if BCSO currently has any automatic weapons in its arsenal. According to the indictment, the agency "began phasing out" its use of automatic firearms in 2013, before the alleged requests were submitted by Gonzales.
The cross-country scheme was similar to having a doctor write fraudulent prescriptions for friends. In this case, the doctors were law enforcement leaders, the friends were gun dealers and enthusiasts and the drugs were automatic weapons.
As for the guns, authorities say they went all over the place.
Once imported by Sullivan, he sent some to Tafoya, Vickers and others while keeping others in his own inventory, authorities say. Vickers, according to court records, kept some guns in his personal collection and gave others to gun dealers "and third parties."
Federal authorities said Hall and Sawyer, who each face multiple felonies, signed nearly 90 law letters between them, requesting 170 guns for demonstration. Of those requested by the police chiefs, 50 were imported by Sullivan.
Those requests pale in comparison to the ones allegedly made by Mora and Gonzales.
Gonzales submitted 127 law letters to Tafoya, requesting 598 guns for demonstration, between July 2015 and September 2020, according to the indictment. Of those requested by Gonzales, according to court records, seven guns were imported by Sullivan.
Mora submitted 17 law letters to Tafoya, requesting 414 firearms for demonstration, between March 2020 and March 2021, and 13 guns were imported by Sullivan.
Federal authorities say the law letters contained "materially false facts."
In one instance, in August 2018, according to the indictment, Sullivan asked Vickers if his "chief" Sawyer would "do a demo letter" for him and, in another message, Vickers asked Sawyer to do the letter "as a favor to me" and sent the letter template.
Sawyer allegedly responded, "as a personal favor to you I'll make this one time exception. you are the only one I've done these for because I consider you a good friend."
Within days, Sawyer submitted law letters to Sullivan to import three submachine guns "for possible future purchase and use of our officer in the performance of his officials duties," according to the indictment. In other messages, Sullivan and Vickers excitedly swapped photos of the automatic weapons and divvied them up.
According to federal authorities, this happened numerous times and, in some cases, Sullivan talked about selling the fraudulently imported guns to "museum curators" and collectors.
The indictment includes a online listing by Sullivan's firearms business selling two machine guns for $115,000, noting "These are post dealer samples and will require a law letter."
Gonzales submitted a law letter in October 2019 requesting a FAMAS machine gun "for possible future purchase and use of our officer" and it was imported by Sullivan in February 2020, according to the indictment. In June 2020, Tafoya messaged an accomplice that Mora was out of the office but had told Tafoya he would submit law letters for several fully automatic Glock handguns.
Federal authorities say Mora submitted the law letters days later and, by February, Sullivan had imported five Glock machine guns.
The ATF sought to seize hundreds of automatic weapons, short-barreled rifles, silencers and other restricted firearms and firearms parts from those involved in the alleged scheme.
