ATF: Seattle ‘straw buyer’ faked thefts to sell guns into black market Man charged with possessing short, unregistered AK-47-style rifle

An AK-47 rifle, pictured in a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives photo. Federal prosecutors in Seattle say Paul Gebrekidan was caught with an unregistered, short-barreled AKM-style rifle that had been equipped with a folding stock. less An AK-47 rifle, pictured in a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives photo. Federal prosecutors in Seattle say Paul Gebrekidan was caught with an unregistered, short-barreled AKM-style rifle that ... more Photo: Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives Photo: Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close ATF: Seattle ‘straw buyer’ faked thefts to sell guns into black market 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A Seattle man said to have sold dozens of guns on the black market while claiming they had been stolen from him now faces federal charges.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives claim Paul Philimon Gebrekidan was a “straw buyer” for Seattle-area criminals unable to buy weapons through legal channels. ATF investigators say Gebrekidan reported the guns stolen to hide his culpability when they turned up at crime scenes.

Federal prosecutors charged Gebrekidan earlier in October with possessing an unregistered AK-47-style rifle. Notable about the Hungarian gun, investigators say, was its shorter-than-legal length and defective receiver that appeared to have been capable of automatic fire had it not been missing several parts.

The extent to which straw buyers arm America’s criminals is a hotly contested area of the wider gun control debate. Those promoting new restrictions on gun sales argue that the problem is widespread, while opponents of those efforts tend to argue that gun thefts – like those reported by Gebrekidan – play the larger part.

Writing in court papers, a Seattle-based ATF special agent said he began investigating Gebrekidan in July 2014 after coming to believe Gebrekidan was a “straw purchaser.”

Straw purchasers are people buy firearms from licensed dealers and resell them to people prohibited from possessing guns because of histories of crime, domestic violence, addiction or mental illness. One of the occupational hazards straw buyers face is that guns sold to them sometimes wind up at crime scenes.

ATF gun-tracking data show that the strong majority of problematic guns collected in Washington had been sold most recently in the state. Of the 2,765 Washington crime and nuisance guns traced by ATF in 2015, 1,971 had been sold in the state.

Gun traffickers usually acquire weapons either through theft or straw purchasers, ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun said by email. Thieves usually burglarize private homes or licensed firearms dealers, while straw buyers tend to make unremarkable purchases from dealers.

“Straw purchasers often acquire a relatively small number of firearms in each transaction, making it more difficult for law enforcement to discover the crime,” Colbrun said Tuesday. “Straw purchasing also makes it possible for firearms traffickers to effectively circumvent the background check and record-keeping requirements of federal law by distancing themselves from the documented part of firearm purchases.”

In court papers, the ATF special agent said Gebrekidan bought “numerous firearms, and filed a series of dubious police reports documenting an apparent series of burglaries, thefts and lost firearms.”

Some of those lost guns didn’t stay missing for long, the ATF agent continued. Many were found with convicted felons prosecuted separately, the agent said, and at least one was used in the robbery of a South Seattle marijuana shop.

A White Center gun dealer told investigators Gebrekidan purchased several guns from him. On Sept. 9, though, Gebrekidan is alleged to have visited the gun dealer with an unusual gun, an unregistered AK-47-style assault weapon.

Gebrekidan left the rifle with the gun dealer, who handed it over to the ATF, according to charging papers. The 7.62-caliber rifle had a live round jammed in the action, forced there because the rifle lacked the springs necessary for automatic fire.

The ATF agent said the rifle’s barrel was short enough to require a special permit under the National Firearms Act. The rifle’s stock folded in, allowing it to be concealed more easily.

An ATF agent looked on when Gebrekidan returned to the shop on Sept. 13 to pick up the rifle, according to charging papers. Gebrekidan was arrested leaving the store with the rifle.

Technicians later determined the gun had been built with parts from a Hungarian machine gun similar to an AKM rifle. According to charging papers, the rifle would have been capable of automatic fire had it been fully assembled.

Gebrekidan has pleaded not guilty and is not currently jailed. His attorney did not return a request for comment, and has since asked to be replaced due to a conflict of interest.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.