VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach man will serve nearly five years in prison for a straw-purchasing and gun-trafficking scheme.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Virginia cited court documents that said 22-year-old Christopher Allen Deaton was part of a scheme in which he had his girlfriend buy five handguns for him so that he could resell them to out-of-state buyers.
Deaton, a previously convicted felon, drove with his girlfriend to a gun store, to her which guns and ammo to buy and directed her to lie about being the actual buyer on a federal form.
When he was in jail on unrelated crimes, Deaton convinced his girlfriend to not cooperate with federal agents or testify in the proceedings against him.
Deaton started tampering with witnesses hours after agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives met with him in jail to discuss his knowledge of the scheme.
The 22-year-old was sentenced Tuesday to four years and nine months in prison.
