Carencro firearms dealer sentenced for failing to maintain accurate records

LAFAYETTE, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Carencro man was sentenced Tuesday to six months of home confinement for failing to maintain accurate records of firearms sales at his business.

Morgan Joseph Parlow Jr., 33, of Carencro, La., was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Hanna on one count of failure to maintain firearms inventory records. He was also sentenced to five years of probation and 600 hours of community service, and he was ordered to forfeit approximately $100,000 worth of firearm inventory, including a machinegun and numerous firearm silencers, and pay a $7,500 fine. Additionally, he agreed to forfeit his right to hold a Federal Firearms License. According to the August 18, 2015 guilty plea, Parlow was a licensed firearms manufacturer and dealer under investigation for theft when agents discovered that his Federal Firearms Licensee and Special Occupational Tax Number had expired. Law enforcement agents conducted a search on March 23, 2015, of Parlow’s home and the site of his business, Specialties of Acadiana. Agents found incomplete sales, purchase and inventory records, which he was required to keep and maintain under the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act. Specifically, the records failed to account for Parlow’s possession of seven silencers and one machine gun as well as Parlow’s acquisition of other firearms.

The ATF conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys David C. Joseph and Joseph T. Mickel prosecuted the case.