Wichita Man Pleads Guilty To Gun, Drug Charges In ATF Sting Operation
WICHITA, KAN. – A Wichita man arrested during an ATF sting operation has pleaded guilty to firearms and drug charges, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Hassaun S. Thomas, 18, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of distributing crack cocaine, one count of transferring a sawed off shotgun and one count of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
In his plea, Thomas admitted he sold crack cocaine for $1,420 to two agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who were posing as owners of a store called Bandit Trading. He also sold the agents a sawed off shotgun for $550 and a 9 mm pistol with the serial number obliterated for $375.
Sentencing is set for Feb. 16. He faces a penalty of not less than five years and more than 40 years in federal prison and a fine up to $5 million on the drug charge, a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $10,000 on the shotgun charge and a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of possessing a firearm with obliterated serial number.
Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst for their work on the case.
