TWO MEN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTING TO ILLEGALLY
PURCHASE HANDGUNS

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that the Firearms Trafficking Unit has charged two men in Howard County Circuit Court for attempting to purchase handguns after having been previously been convicted of criminal offenses that prohibit them from being able to lawfully possess handguns.

Sean Omar Sherwood, 22, 14504 Dunsinane Terrace, Silver Spring, was charged with False Application to Purchase a Regulated Firearm (three counts), Perjury (three counts), and Attempting to Illegally Possess a Regulated Firearm (three counts). The criminal information alleges that on January 30, 2003, Sherwood falsely claimed in an application to purchase a handgun that he had never been convicted of a felony crime of violence, when in fact he had been previously found guilty of Third Degree Sexual Offense. Sherwood is also charged with falsely claiming in his application that he had not been previously convicted of a misdemeanor that carries a statutory penalty of more than two years, when he had in fact been convicted of Failure to Register as a Child Sex Offender.

Recuerdo Harrison Quinto, 41, 12011 Tarragon Road, Apt. E, Reisterstown, was charged with False Application to Purchase a Regulated Firearm, Perjury, and Attempting to Illegally Possess a Regulated Firearm. The criminal information alleges that on March 6, 2003, Quinto falsely claimed in an application to purchase a handgun that he had never been convicted of a felony, when in fact he had been previously found guilty of Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance.

Sherwood and Quinto are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The maximum penalty for a conviction for filing a false application to purchase a firearm is three years incarceration and a $5,000 fine. The maximum penalty for a conviction of perjury is 10 years incarceration, and the maximum penalty for attempting to illegally possess a regulated firearm is five years incarceration and a $10,000 fine.

Both cases were investigated by the Firearms Enforcement Section of the Maryland State Police and will be prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General, Firearms Trafficking Unit, Criminal Investigations Division. Funding for the Firearms Trafficking Unit comes from grants received from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, and the Maryland State Police Cease Fire Council.

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