Man Charged with Possession of 44 Stolen Firearms
Las Vegas, Nev. - A New York man was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury today on charges that he possessed 44 firearms that were allegedly stolen from a vehicle in a casino parking lot, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
ANOLVIS GUILARTE, age 38, a resident of New York City, is charged with 44 counts of Possession of a Stolen Firearm. If convicted, he is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
The Federal Indictment alleges that on September 30, 2004, ANOLVIS GUILARTE possessed 43 stolen Glock semi-automatic pistols and one Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol.
According to a Criminal Complaint filed against GUILARTE on October 8, 2004, at approximately 2:45 p.m. on September 30, 2004, a Reno Police Department (RPD) officer notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that 54 firearms and multiple firearms parts and accessories had been reported stolen from a sports utility vehicle parked at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino. The theft was reported by the owner of the vehicle, a Federal Firearms Licensee who had parked the vehicle in the lot at approximately 5:00 p.m. the day before with approximately 75 firearms inside it. The owner of the vehicle reported that when he returned to the vehicle, a window was broken and many of the firearms had been stolen.
Further investigation led officers to ANOLVIS GUILARTE, who was arrested on October 5, 2004, in a vehicle in the Atlantis Hotel and Casino parking lot. GUILARTE was charged locally with Possession of Burglary Tools and Possession of Marijuana, and charged federally on October 8, 2004, with Possessing a Stolen Firearm. Within one week of the burglary, law enforcement agents had located 44 of the stolen firearms in the Reno area.
The case is being investigated by Special Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Officers with the Reno Police Department Repeat Offender Program, and Deputies with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Don Gifford.
The public is reminded that an Indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
