A former Addyston police chief pleaded guilty Monday after being found guilty of using his position to illegally help two federally licensed firearms dealers in Indiana acquire and resell approximately 200 fully automatic machine guns using false documents, Zachary A. Myers, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana,Dorian LaCourse, 66, of Milford, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and making false statements. LaCourse is the former police chief in the Village of Addyston, Ohio. He was indicted by a federal grand jury for using his law enforcement position to illegally help two federally licensed firearms dealers in Indiana acquire and resell approximately 200 fully automatic machine guns using false documents. The firearms dealers, Johnathan Marcum, 34, of Laurel, Indiana, and Christopher Petty, 58, of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, previously pleaded guilty in separate cases to participating in the same conspiracy, the attorney’s office stated in a release.According to court documents, LaCourse, Marcum, and Petty, illegally exploited a law enforcement exception to the federal ban on the possession or transfer of fully automatic machine guns. In his position as police chief, court documents say LaCourse signed multiple “demonstration letters” falsely stating that the Village of Addyston Police Department was interested in purchasing various types of machine guns, including military-grade weapons, and asking that Marcum and or Petty give the demonstration. Marcum and Petty then sent the letters to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in order to obtain the weapons. LaCourse was the village’s only full-time police officer.LaCourse is also accused of placing direct orders for German-made machine guns that were purported to be paid for by the police department. Instead, the purchases were paid for by Marcum and Petty and intended to bypass restrictions on the importation of such weapons by anyone other than the police or the military.The Addyston Police Department was never authorized to purchase any of the machine guns, and the Indiana gun dealers never provided any demonstrations of machine guns to the police department. Instead, the gun dealers resold the machine guns at a significant profit. In some instances, a gun dealer resold illegally acquired machine guns for five or six times the price he got them for. They did this for around 200 fully automatic machine guns. LaCourse received over $11,500 from the gun dealers for his role in the scheme.LaCourse pleaded guilty to conspiracy, making false statements in records maintained by a federal firearms licensee, and making false statements to the ATF. He faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Marcum and Petty have both pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and each faces up to 5 years in federal prison. Their sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.Each will be sentenced at a later date. The ATF investigated the case.
A former Addyston police chief pleaded guilty Monday after being found guilty of using his position to illegally help two federally licensed firearms dealers in Indiana acquire and resell approximately 200 fully automatic machine guns using false documents, Zachary A. Myers, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana,
Dorian LaCourse, 66, of Milford, Ohio, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and making false statements.
LaCourse is the former police chief in the Village of Addyston, Ohio.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury for using his law enforcement position to illegally help two federally licensed firearms dealers in Indiana acquire and resell approximately 200 fully automatic machine guns using false documents.
The firearms dealers, Johnathan Marcum, 34, of Laurel, Indiana, and Christopher Petty, 58, of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, previously pleaded guilty in separate cases to participating in the same conspiracy, the attorney’s office stated in a release.
According to court documents, LaCourse, Marcum, and Petty, illegally exploited a law enforcement exception to the federal ban on the possession or transfer of fully automatic machine guns.
In his position as police chief, court documents say LaCourse signed multiple “demonstration letters” falsely stating that the Village of Addyston Police Department was interested in purchasing various types of machine guns, including military-grade weapons, and asking that Marcum and or Petty give the demonstration. Marcum and Petty then sent the letters to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in order to obtain the weapons.
LaCourse was the village’s only full-time police officer.
LaCourse is also accused of placing direct orders for German-made machine guns that were purported to be paid for by the police department.
Instead, the purchases were paid for by Marcum and Petty and intended to bypass restrictions on the importation of such weapons by anyone other than the police or the military.
The Addyston Police Department was never authorized to purchase any of the machine guns, and the Indiana gun dealers never provided any demonstrations of machine guns to the police department. Instead, the gun dealers resold the machine guns at a significant profit. In some instances, a gun dealer resold illegally acquired machine guns for five or six times the price he got them for. They did this for around 200 fully automatic machine guns.
LaCourse received over $11,500 from the gun dealers for his role in the scheme.
LaCourse pleaded guilty to conspiracy, making false statements in records maintained by a federal firearms licensee, and making false statements to the ATF.
He faces up to 15 years in federal prison. Marcum and Petty have both pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and each faces up to 5 years in federal prison.
Their sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.
Each will be sentenced at a later date.
The ATF investigated the case.
