A Vancouver, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release for theft of firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), and possession and sale of stolen firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  DANIEL MCNETT, 23, burglarized Discount Guns on Highway 99 in Vancouver on November 30, 2010. MCNETT conspired with Nicholas Southard, 21, who drove the getaway car.  Both men sold some of the guns to others, including felons who were prohibited from having firearms.  One of these customers used the weapon to fire at police when they attempted to serve a search warrant.  Fortunately, no one was injured.  At sentencing U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said “It is the job of our legal system to hold people accountable to protect the public.  And the public was not protected when you burglarized that store and stole 26 firearms, which was then used in at least one crime . . . This is the sort of conduct that, if tolerated, would totally cause a community to disassemble.”

            According to the indictment, DANIEL MCNETT broke into Discount Guns and stole 26 firearms including one rifle and 25 pistols of various makes and calibers.  MCNETT was the burglar while Southard served as the lookout who also made two trips driving the weapons from the gun store to MCNETT’s apartment.  MCNETT was a felon and was prohibited from possessing any firearms at the time he possessed the stolen guns. MCNETT sold some of the guns from the burglary to other felons for drugs and cash.  Southard was given a portion of the guns to sell.  He sold a Kahr Arms-Auto Ordnance .40 caliber pistol to a man who, on January 6, 2011, used the gun to fire at a SWAT team. Fortunately no one was hurt. 

            In asking the court for a lengthy sentence, prosecutors noted that MCNETT has refused to assist law enforcement with tracking down the stolen guns. “Although law enforcement was able to recover a handful of the firearms that Defendant stole from Discount Guns, a number of firearms still remain outstanding.  Disturbingly, Defendant has refused to talk to law enforcement or to provide them with any information about the persons to whom he sold the firearms, or where the missing firearms are.  As a result, there are a number of dangerous weapons at large in our community that are likely in the hands of felons, drug users, and other criminals at this very moment,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo. 

 Southard was sentenced to 75 months in prison on June 29, 2012.

The case was investigated by the ATF, with assistance from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Vancouver Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kate Crisham and Jill Otake.

 

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