ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The owner of a local pawn shop will spend the next six months behind bars following his conviction on charges of selling guns to a convicted felon.
A federal jury found 51-year-old Jay Goldberg, owner of Fast and Easy Pawn, guilty of two counts of selling a firearm or ammunition to a convicted felon.
Goldberg faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison but was sentenced to six months behind bars and three years of supervised probation because of his clean criminal record and prior service in the military.
Federal prosecutors say investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a convicted felon acting as a confidential informant in to attempt purchasing a gun.
The informant was denied when he initially tried to purchase the gun himself, but then he immediately called over an undercover officer acting as his girlfriend, and according to evidence presented in court, she was allowed to purchase the gun when prosecutors say the store owner knew, or should have known, she was purchasing the gun for the felon.
“They know they are prohibited, they know they can’t legally buy their firearms, but what they’ll do is they’ll bring in another third party to do that actual transaction and fill out the paperwork. And we call that a straw purchase,” said Daryl McCrary, special agent in charge of the Tampa Field Office for ATF.
ATF’s Tampa Field Office is working to crack down on straw purchases and to teach pawn shop owners potential signs to look for.
Special Agents with ATF say as many as 15 guns previously used in crimes have been traced back to Fast and Easy Pawn.
The store has since closed.
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