PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY MAN CHARGED WITH
ATTEMPTING TO ILLEGALLY PURCHASE A HANDGUN

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that the Firearms Trafficking Unit has filed charges in the Circuit Court for Howard County against a Prince George’s County man in connection with his filing of an application to purchase a handgun with the Maryland State Police.

Teaco Patrick Chase, 37, of the 5600 Block of Regency Park Court in Suitland, was charged with two counts of False Application to Purchase a Regulated Firearm, two counts of Perjury, and two counts of Attempting to Illegally Possess a Regulated Firearm. The criminal information alleges that on January 23, 2003, Chase 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 Second Degree Rape.

Chase is 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.

This case was 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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