HARFORD COUNTY PAWN BROKER ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL SALES OF REGULATED FIREARMS

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., announced today the indictment and arrest of Alexander Sabinstev who operates Star Pawn Brokers in Edgewood, Maryland. Mr. Sabinstev is charged with two counts of illegal sales of regulated firearms and three counts of selling a firearm to persons whom he had reasonable cause to believe were participants in “straw purchases”. A straw purchase is the sale of a regulated firearm in which the actual buyer uses another person to purchase and take possession of the gun. That person then turns it over to the actual buyer.

The indictment was returned by the Grand Jury for Harford County. The maximum penalty for each count of the indictment is 5 years incarceration and a fine of $10,000. An indictment is merely an accusation and all persons are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Maryland State Police Firearms Enforcement Section and the Baltimore County Police Department’s Firearms and Violent Crimes Unit. The case is being prosecuted by the Firearms Trafficking Unit of the Attorney General’s Criminal Investigations Division. This unit is funded by grants from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the Maryland State Police Cease Fire Council.

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