Received this in an email and checked the www to see if it was true and it looks as if it is. Looks like a precursor for things to come if we dont stand up and reimpliment a government that is OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people!! I get the feeling that government has forgotten WHO they work for!!
FEDS CONVICT TEXAN FOR SELLING A GUN TO ILLEGAL ALIEN WITH TEXAS
> DRIVER’S LICENSE
In Federal District Court on July 20, 2010, the ATF won a conviction from an Austin
>jury that defies logic and reason. In a trial before Federal Judge Sam Sparks,
>government lawyers conceded Texas resident Paul Copeland did not know his buyer
>was an illegal alien, but the jury they should convict him anyway because he "had
>reasonable cause to believe" he was selling to an illegal alien because the two
>men and a boy who were present at his table at the time of the sale: 1) were Hispanic,
>2) spoke Spanish, and 3) wore cowboy clothing. And the jury did as asked. Assistant
>U.S. Attorney Jennifer Freel acted as lead prosecutor in the case.
The firearm transaction at issue occurred on January 16, 2010, at a gunshow at
>the North Austin Events Center, at 10601 N. Lamar Blvd., in Austin, Texas. Undercover
>ATF agents followed Mr. Huerta, his son, and another Hispanic male, Hipolito Aviles,
>around the "Texas Gunshow" that day, and claimed to observe Huerta’s transaction.
>Austin P.D. used Copeland’s case as the reason to close down the gunshow, leading
>to a protest by Austin residents in front of APD headquarters on January 25.
Mr. Copeland is a 56 year old Cedar Creek resident and Vietnam veteran who liked
>to buy, sell, and trade firearms as a hobby. On January 16, however, he had the
>misfortune to sell a handgun to Leonel Huerta Sr., who spoke both English and
>Spanish. Huerta Sr. negotiated his purchase from Copeland in English, showing
>Copeland his Texas Driver’s License. At Copeland’s trial Huerta admitted on the
>witness stand, that he is in the country illegally, (Huerta Sr. had previously
>admitted this fact to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent
>Leo Buentello). ATF Agent Shawn Kang claimed he saw Huerta later hand off the
>gun to Aviles. Despite these admissions, Huerta Sr. was never arrested, charged,
>or deported. Instead, his presence at the gunshow was used to entrap an American
>citizen into an unwitting violation of a federal gun control law. Huerta Sr.,
>who is a resident of the City of Austin, appeared as a witness at the trial, admitted
>he was in the country illegally before federal prosecutors and a federal judge,
>yet he was allowed to leave the courtroom under his own power. To date Huerta
>Sr. has not been prosecuted for his purchase, possession, or disposition of the
>handgun he bought from Copeland, while Copeland is now a convicted felon.
"Instead of busting the illegal alien for buying, they bust the citizen for selling,"
>commented Paul Velte, attorney and founder of Peaceable Texans for Firearms Rights,
>a gun-owners rights advocacy group from Austin. Velte asked, "who was in a better
>position to know the buyer’s immigration status, the buyer or the seller?" He
>also said, "What happened to Paul Copeland should enrage all Americans. The Federal
>Government is using illegal aliens to entrap citizens lawfully exercising their
>right to sell firearms. The illegal alien walks free, but the citizen gets convicted.
>The same government charged with controlling immigration is the one using illegal
>immigrants to attack its own citizens. Does this make any sense? It makes no sense
>unless the purpose is to discourage attendance at gunshows and frighten citizens
>from selling their firearms to other citizens."
Velte pointed out that "There is no way for a citizen to know who is here legally
>or not. In fact, under Austin’s ‘sanctuary city’ policy, not even the police officer
>at the door of the gunshow was allowed to ask a person’s immigration status, yet
>the average Texan inside the show is expected to assume that a person standing
>before them with a Texas driver’s license is in the country illegally just because
>they look Mexican and speak Spanish." Velte noted that the federal government’s
>lawsuit against Arizona was based on that very type of conduct: Concluding someone
>could be here illegally based on their looks or their language. Velte said gun
>owners in his group are outraged, and they want to know:
1. Why is the illegal alien who purchased the gun, Leonel Huerta Sr., still
>living in Austin?
2. Why does he still have a Texas Driver’s license?
3. Why is ATF using illegal aliens to set up and convict American citizens?
>
4. What has he been promised for his cooperation?
5. Why has he not been prosecuted? He committed three distinct crimes: he purchased
>a firearm knowing he was an illegal alien, he possessed the firearm, and he
>transferred the handgun to another illegal alien (Hippolito Aviles, who was
>convicted and given time served on June 30, 2010).
Why has Huerta Sr. not been deported?
Judge Sparks sentenced Copeland on August 27 to six months confinement and 24
> months of probation, and called Copeland "a liar" for not admitting guilt. ATF
> confiscated Copeland’s entire gun collection and initiated forfeiture proceedings.
>Copeland was also fired from his job due to the indictment, and he would have
>lost his home to foreclosure, if not for his family stepping in to pay his mortgage
>while he serves his sentence.
Here's a Fox News link:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/09/texas-gun-dealer-gets-prison-sentence-selling-gun-illegal-immigrant-id-illegal/
