The public radio program This American Life again put a spotlight on missteps during a U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sting that set up a fake Oregon smoke shop.

The popular show this weekend recounted the findings of an investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which was tipped off to fake storefronts all over the country by a landlord who said the ATF trashed the property it rented and refused to pay for damages.

Among those storefronts was a fake Gresham business called Squid's Smoke Shop, which the agency set up in 2010 across the street from H.B. Lee Middle School.

The Oregonian's Les Zaitz took a closer look at the Oregon sting and found agents didn't realize they had set up the high-risk operation directly across the street from a school.

The $150,000 Oregon arm of the operation recovered 80 guns, 10 of which were stolen and none of which were proved to have been used in a crime. And four of the people arrested were later found to have diminished mental acuity, a pattern observed in the operation elsewhere.



The Gresham operation became emblematic of the operation's overreach when it was revealed federal agents paid two teens $150 each to get a tattoo of their fake smoke shop's logo. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman in Portland ordered the ATF to pay for removal of the tattoos.



The ATF's second-in-command later told a Congress it was a "mistake" to locate the high-risk storefront operation near a school and that agents didn't show "great judgment" in paying for the tattoos.



However, Oregon U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall said the operation was a success and that 48 people were convicted on state and federal charges. Many were sentenced to probation or time served, Zaitz reported. Others were sentenced to prison for up to 12 years.



This American Life picks a theme each week and presents several related stories. The week's theme was "A Front." Other stories included people who refuse to answer questions at government checkpoints in the West and a front in a doctor's office.

-- Elliot Njus