By Adriana Gómez Licón
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Calif. — A federal judge sentenced former FBI agent John Shipley on Tuesday to two years in prison after his conviction of gun dealing without a license.
Shipley, 40, also was convicted in April of providing federal agents with false documents to hide the number of guns he sold. Shipley’s lawyer Leon Schydlower described his client as an honest family man, a law officer and a churchgoer. He was not a “dirty cop,” rather an avid gun collector, he said.
“Is this community better served by putting this man behind bars?” he asked.
Schydlower asked U.S. District Judge David Briones to sentence Shipley to probation. Briones denied it.
Shipley’s voice was breaking when he explained to Briones that he did not intend to violate the law. His statement prompted quiet sobs from his wife, other relatives and friends.
Shipley said he often consulted with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to make sure he was in compliance when he bought and sold guns.
“To say that somebody would throw away everything they worked for their whole life for. For what?” Shipley asked. “If I did break the law, it was absolutely unintentional.”
Shipley, also an Army veteran, made $115,000 a year, Schydlower said. He had been working for the FBI since 1996.
Federal authorities began investigating Shipley in 2008 after they traced a .50-caliber sniper rifle seized after a gunbattle in the city of Chihuahua back to him. Schydlower said the gun was once owned by Shipley but had since belonged to other people.
ATF and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found that Shipley bought and sold several guns over the Internet without a license. Private owners can sell guns on an occasional basis, the federal law says.
He also filled out ATF forms saying he was the buyer of the weapon when he was selling it. When ATF agents searched his home, Shipley allegedly handed them a false document of his purchases and sales of guns.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory McDonald said Shipley sold 52 firearms and earned $118,000 in profits from 2005 to 2008. “That became his personal slush fund,” he said.
McDonald said imprisonment was justified. “He has been given a tremendous amount of discretion,” McDonald said. “He did abuse a position of trust.”
Schydlower said Shipley bought and sold guns simply to improve his collection. He said he plans to appeal.
The National Rifle Association, which has expressed support for Shipley, will assist him in appealing the guilty verdict, according to its website.
Briones ordered Shipley to report to La Tuna, a low-security prison, in Anthony, Texas, on Oct. 22 to serve his sentence. Briones also ordered that Shipley be placed under supervised release for three years after his prison term.
Copyright 2010 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper