Feds raid Blackwater in firearms probe
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - June 27, 2008
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said investigators with the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched
Blackwater's armory at its corporate headquarters in Moyock on
Tuesday as part of the investigation. Court documents show that
agents seized 22 guns as evidence from a vault dedicated to county
authorities.
The company signed agreements in 2005 in which Blackwater
financed the purchase of 34 automatic weapons for the Camden County
Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Tony Perry became the official owner of
the weapons, but Blackwater was allowed to keep most of the guns at
its armory.
Federal laws prohibit private parties from buying fully
automatic weapons, unless they were manufactured and registered
before May 1986, but allows law enforcement agencies to have them.
One of the 2005 agreements says the weapons will be kept under
"lock and key" and doesn't describe whether Blackwater would use
the guns.
"We believe all aspects of our contracts with the sheriff's
office are lawful and proper," Tyrrell said, adding that the ATF
has known about the arrangement for a long time.
Tyrrell also said federal authorities have known about the
weapons for years and that investigators got a complete look at the
company's cache in 2005 after two employees were fired.
Kenneth Wayne Cashwell and William Ellsworth "Max" Grumiaux
were sentenced this year on gunrunning charges, but they were
spared prison time after federal prosecutors asked a judge to
approve a lighter sentence because of their ongoing cooperation in
a weapons investigation.
Blackwater said it fired the men after finding they had been
stealing from the company. Cashwell operated Blackwater's armory in
2005, Tyrrell said.
"When these guys were fired, we invited (ATF) in to do a full
search of everything we possessed," Tyrrell said. "They did a
full audit, and those weapons were there at that time."
She said it is not unusual for Blackwater to store automatic
weapons because the company is licensed to sell, provide training
on, or even manufacture firearms.
Both ATF and U.S. Attorney George Holding declined to comment.
The 2005 agreements give the sheriff's office unlimited access
to the weapons, including 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmasters.
But Perry has said his department has only used the AK-47s in
shooting practice at Blackwater and that none of his 19 deputies
are qualified to use them.
The 34 weapons are registered in the National Firearms
Registration and Transfer Record to the Camden County sheriff. The
AK-47s and five of the Bushmasters were stored and used at
Blackwater while the remainder of the weapons were assigned to
local deputies, Perry had said. Those numbers match with the guns
listed on the search warrant receipt filed Wednesday.
The sheriff did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
Blackwater is the largest private security firm in Iraq, and it
has been under scrutiny as a federal grand jury in Washington
investigates the company's involvement in the shooting deaths of 17
Iraqi civilians. The firm is also under investigation for possible
weapons smuggling allegations - violations the firm strongly
denies.
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Associated Press Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report
from Washington.