CONTACT: Sandy Palazzolo (313) 226-9510
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 

    United States Attorney Jeffrey G. Collins and Special Agent In Charge Greg Holley of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced that Lester Westenfelder, age 62, of Troy, Michigan was sentenced today to fifteen months imprisonment, together with a $1,000 fine, after being found guilty last November of seven counts of perjury following a three-day bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney John Engstrom, who prosecuted the case, stated that, "Mr. Westenfelder testified approximately one and one-half years ago as a witness for the defense in a federal criminal trial, United States v. Cor Bon Custom Bullet Co. and Peter Pi. The defendants in that case were charged with ammunition excise tax evasion. Mr. Westenfelder was both a friend of Peter Pi and the accountant for Cor Bon Custom Bullet Co. Judge Cohn found that Mr. Westenfelder falsely testified in that trial that he had been threatened by an ATF agent during the course of the investigation; that he incorrectly filled out Cor Bon's excise tax returns based upon advice that he had received by an ATF employee over the telephone; and that he, personally, verified the accuracy of the numbers that were reported by Cor Bon and Peter Pi in the excise tax returns. Judge Cohn further found that Mr. Westenfelder was an "essential witness" in the underlying trial and that his testimony was "inherently incredible." Ultimately, in the underlying trial, Peter Pi was acquitted of all tax evasion charges, and Cor Bon Custom Bullet Co was convicted of thirteen, out of sixteen, counts of tax evasion."

    Judge Cohn sentenced Mr. Westenfelder to 15 months imprisonment and found that Mr. Westenfelder actually committed perjury twice - in the Cor Bon Custom Bullet Co. trial, and when he testified on his own behalf in the perjury trial.

    Mr. Collins commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm for its investigation which led to the successful prosecution of this case.