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Press Release

Jury Convicts Man Subject to Victim Protective Orders for Possessing Firearms

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY – CHAD WAYNE KASPEREIT, 34, of Duncan, has been convicted by a jury of possessing firearms while subject to a victim protective order and lying on a federal form to purchase firearms, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

"This office aggressively enforces the federal prohibition against possessing a firearm while under an active victim protection order," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Troester.  "This case and others like it will protect victims from further abuse and protect law enforcement officers who respond to domestic calls.  I want to thank the Oklahoma City Police Department, ATF, the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office, and especially the prosecutors in my office for working together to seek justice in this important case."

According to Count 1 of a superseding indictment filed on March 19, 2019, Kaspereit made a materially false statement on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Form 4473 when he falsely represented that he was not subject to a victim protective order.  The superseding indictment charged he knew when he completed the form that he was subject to such an order in Stephens County, Oklahoma, when he made the false statement on December 7, 2017, at the Academy Store in Yukon, Oklahoma.  The Stephens County protective order prohibited Kaspereit from harassing, stalking, or threatening his ex-wife and their three children, and from using force or threats of force against them.  Relying on Kaspereit’s false statement, Academy sold Kaspereit a Taurus Judge .45 caliber revolver and a Taurus PT 738 .380 pistol.  Anyone purchasing a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer must certify their answers to certain questions on Form 4473.

Counts 2 and 3 charged Kaspereit with the felony of possessing a firearm while subject to a victim protective order.  Count 2 alleged he possessed the Taurus Judge .45 caliber revolver and the Taurus PT 738 .380 pistol between December 7, 2017, when he bought them at Academy, and February 26, 2018, a period during which he was subject to the Stephens County protective order.  Count 3 alleged he possessed the Taurus PT 738 .380 caliber pistol on October 16, 2018, when he was subject to a separate victim protective order in Cleveland County, Oklahoma.

Today a jury convicted Kaspereit on the first two counts and found him not guilty on the third count.  At trial, the jury heard evidence that Kaspereit was subject to protective orders that prohibited him from harassing, stalking, or intimidating his first wife and their three children, and then his second wife and her child, from September 3, 2015, until the present, with the limited exception of February 27, 2018, until March 18, 2018.  The jury heard that Kaspereit’s first wife agreed to dismiss her protective order in February 2018 only because she believed it was not stopping him from doing anything to her or the children.  The jury also heard evidence that Kaspereit used the handguns to threaten his second wife.  Kaspereit has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on January 15, 2019.

At sentencing, Kaspereit faces up to ten years in prison on each of the two counts of conviction, in addition to a fine of up to $250,000 per count.  He will also be subject to up to three years of supervised release after imprisonment.  Sentencing will take place in approximately ninety days.

These charges are the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, with assistance from the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office and the Oklahoma City Police Department.  Prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys K. McKenzie Anderson and Jacquelyn M. Hutzell, this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses on the most violent offenders and partners with local prevention and re-entry programs for lasting reductions in crime.  To enhance local effectiveness, the Western District of Oklahoma has emphasized prosecution of federal gun crimes connected to domestic violence.

Reference is made to public filings for further information.

Updated May 17, 2019

Topic
Firearms Offenses