Investigators believe a convicted felon allegedly given two handguns by the brother of Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Nestor was trying to sell firearms on the streets of Limon.

According to an arrest warrant, a man told investigators he was approached twice by Daniel Charles Thompson and each time offered a different gun.

Thompson allegedly tried to sell the man, also a convicted felon, a semi-automatic pistol and a Western-style revolver, the document says.

Authorities believe Thompson, 27, was given two handguns by Dustin Nestor that had been stolen out of the sheriff’s office’s unsecured evidence room. The warrant did not say if the guns Thompson is accused of trying to sell were the ones allegedly passed to him by Nestor.

Nestor, a 34-year-old employee of the sheriff’s office, faces seven felony counts in the case. Investigators say he admitted to stealing the weapons.

Nestor’s case was first reported by Denver7, which found that he admitted to the thefts more than eight months before he was charged in December. The television station also said no one appeared to have noticed the guns were stolen for at least 100 days.

Dustin Nestor faces allegations of second-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, unlawful purchase of firearms and embezzlement of public property.

The case was investigated by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Nestor is accused of stealing a Springfield XD .45 pistol and a Smith and Wesson .357-caliber revolver from the evidence room.

The affidavit says investigators first learned of the gun thefts after Thompson’s wife said he had threatened her with a firearm.

Thompson was also charged in the case in December and faces two counts of being a previous offender in possession of a weapon, according to court records.

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul