HARFORD COUNTY PAWN BROKER PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL GUN SALES

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Alexander Sabintsev and Star Pawn Brokers of Edgewood, Maryland entered guilty pleas in the Circuit Court for Harford County, to illegal sales of regulated assault weapons and participating in "straw purchases" of handguns. A "straw purchase” is a purchase by one person for another person who is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm. In this case two assault weapons were sold to undercover police officers without complying with the requirements for the filing of an application with the State Police. The filing of such an application triggers a background investigation of the purchaser in order to determine whether the purchaser is prohibited from possessing such a weapon.

Mr. Sabintsev also participated in three "straw purchases" to undercover State Troopers. In each case Sabinstev knew that those purchasing the guns were buying them for others whom he believed were prohibited from purchasing such firearms.

Mr. Sabintsev was acting on behalf of Star Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Star Pawn Brokers. Star City Enterprises was the firearms licensee at the time of the sales. That license has been suspended and will be revoked as a result of the guilty pleas in this case.

Judge William O. Carr sentenced Mr. Sabinstev to three years incarceration which was suspended and placed him on supervised probation for two years. Judge Carr also ordered Mr. Sabintsev to pay fines totaling $4000.

Star City Enterprises was fined $1000 and ordered to repay the Maryland State Police $2112, which is the sum that was paid for the guns purchased by the undercover officers.

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the Firearms Trafficking Unit of the Office of the Attorney General, funded by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention in cooperation with the Firearms Enforcement Section of the Maryland State Police and the Firearms and Violence Unit of the Baltimore County Police.

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