3 Lake County Sheriff’s officers plead guilty to gun charges, resign Three Lake County Sheriff’s police officers
used their positions to buy and sell online machine guns and laser sights, some of which landed with a criminal organization in Montreal, federal officials said Thursday in announcing a six-count indictment against the men.
Edward Kabella, a patrolman; Joseph Kumstar, a former deputy chief, and Ronald D. Slusser, a SWAT officer and firearms instructor, have agreed to
plead guilty to the charges and pay anywhere from about $22,000 to almost $200,000 to the IRS in back taxes. All of the men are from Crown Point.
Sheriff John Buncich said the three men, who were placed on administrative leave in May after federal officials served subpoenas on them,
have resigned from the department effective Friday.
U.S. Attorney David Capp said the three men
started scheming in September 2008 to use their positions with the Sheriff’s Department to purchase 74 H&K machine guns, known for being military-grade weapons.
Individuals are banned from owning fully automatic machine guns; only the military and law enforcement agencies are allowed to purchase them.
According to the indictment, Kumstar, 40, made the first purchase on Sept. 4, 2008, by
using official letterhead and purchase orders from the Sheriff’s Department to submit requests for the guns to a manufacturer for three of its Model 416 automatic machine guns. He signed the letter citing himself as the chief of police, when he was actually the deputy chief.
Kumstar wrote in the letter the guns were for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, which is allowed to buy and own the guns. He exchanged a machine gun owned by the Sheriff’s Department for the three new guns and also received $4,500 from the seller.
The defendants intercepted the delivery of the guns and took them to Slusser’s house. They then broke up the guns into three pieces and sold the most desirable part, the upper receiver barrel, online. Capp said the upper receiver is a popular product because it is well-made and can fit onto any gun. The part can’t normally be bought separately.
Four more similar transactions followed, although Kumstar, Slusser and Kabella, paid anywhere from $1,200 to $1,900 for the guns in the separate purchases. Capp said they used their own money to buy the guns.
The barrels and other pieces were all sold online with the officers making anywhere from $2,500 to $3,500 on each item.
Paul Stracci, who is representing Kabella, pointed out his client was specifically named in just two of the purchases — one for guns and one for lasers. Slusser made most of the laser purchases, according to the indictment.
Sight lasers, too
The men ran a similar scheme with the sight lasers, buying 92 of them from two companies. The men paid $1,250 for each laser and sold them for $2,800 to $3,000 online.
Capp stressed that none of the companies that sold the items were being accused of illegal activity and that they had all been duped by the defendants into thinking they were making legal transactions.
Four of the barrels were found in May during a search warrant on organized crime in Montreal, Capp said. Some of the laser sights were found in the home of a Mississippi man who died after engaging in a shoot-out with police officers, Capp said.
Capp stressed the dangers of selling items like these online.
“
You have no idea where they will end up,†Capp said.
All three men are charged with one count each of
conspiring to lie to a federal firearms licensee and conspiring to defraud the U.S. Drug and Food Administration, which oversees all lasers in the country. Each faces individual counts on lying on their federal tax returns.
According to the indictment, Slusser, an 11-year veteran with the department,
claimed on his 2006 income tax return that he made $298,566 less than he actually did. Kumstar, an 17-year veteran, and Kabella, a six-year veteran, are accused of
lying on their 2010 tax returns by $30,102 and $58,516, respectively.
Slusser, 47, was also
charged with money laundering, by splitting up cash deposits so they never went over $10,000. Federal law requires that banks report any deposit more than $10,000.
The defendants have agreed to
plead guilty to all of the counts, according to signed plea agreements.
‘Poor decisions’
Matthew Fech, attorney for Kumstar, said his client is taking responsibility for all his actions and will continue to do so.
“Sometimes good people make bad decisions,†Fech said. “(Kumstar) made some poor decisions.â€
Fech said that Kumstar has not been arrested yet and is making plans with federal officials to turn himself over.
Stracci said that Kabella has been cooperating, which can be seen in the
“substantial†decrease that the prosecutors have agreed to recommend for his sentence.
“He’s accepted responsibility for his conduct, and he’s been cooperative throughout the process,†Stracci said.
He added that 42-year-old Kabella has been a well-respected officer and
was even named officer of the year in 2007.
An attorney for Slusser could not be reached for comment.
Capp said the
federal investigation started after someone made a citizen’s complaint about possible problems going on at the department’s armory. Sheriff Buncich, who took office in January, cooperated with the federal investigation, Capp said.
“
It’s just a bad day for the Sheriff’s Department,†Buncich said. “But we’re going to get through this.â€
Buncich said the actions do not reflect on the entire department and that the department had already implemented several security steps to make sure a similar crime doesn’t happen again. He said there had been problems with the process of purchasing weapons and that it should have gone through either the chief of police or the sheriff.
“
Somebody was asleep at the switch,†he said.
Others subpoenaed
Three other Lake County officers — Capt. Marco Kuyachich, Lt. Michael Reilly and Patrolman Scott Shelhart — were also placed on administrative leave in May when they, too, were named in the subpoenas. Capp would not comment on anyone else but did say the case is still an ongoing investigation.
Buncich said he would
talk with his legal team before making a decision as to whether to reinstate those three men, a decision that will come in the next few days.
Kuyachich, who was chief of police under former Sheriff Roy Dominguez when the crime started, has maintained he was a witness in the case and not a suspect.
Capp said initial hearings would take place in the next few days.
The men are pleading guilty to all the counts they were charged with. Kumstar and Kabella face up to 5 years in prison. Slusser faces up to 20 years because of the money laundering charge. Federal prosecutors have said they will recommend the minimum of the federal sentencing guideline range, which will be determined later, as part of the agreement.
On top of pleading guilty, each defendant has agreed to pay back taxes to the IRS and turn over guns found in their homes, some of which were associated with the case. Slusser will pay $198,818 in taxes owed from 2005 to 2010 and turn over 91 guns, lasers and gun parts. Kumstar will pay back $22,613 in back taxes from 2005 to 2009 and turn over 104 guns found in a van and at two residences. Kabella, who is named as minimal participant in the agreement, will pay $26,116 for the tax years 2006 through 2010 and will forfeit 23 guns.
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