(WNY News Now) – A former federal firearms licensee has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for knowingly selling firearms to straw purchasers and facilitating false statements on federal forms, according to U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross.
Buffalo, N.Y. – Allen DeCola, a 66-year-old resident of Perry, Ohio, has been handed a 30-month prison sentence by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford after being found guilty of making false statements during the sale of firearms. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti, who prosecuted the case, revealed that DeCola, a former federal firearms licensee who operated under the business name MGA Arms, Inc., had engaged in illegal firearm sales in May 2018. On three separate occasions during that month, DeCola knowingly sold a total of 21 firearms to three straw purchasers. Straw purchasers are individuals who buy firearms on behalf of others, concealing the true recipients of the weapons.
Crucially, all three straw purchasers falsified information on federal forms mandated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Specifically, they falsely claimed to be the actual buyers of the firearms, concealing the intended recipients. DeCola was well aware of the fraudulent nature of these statements.
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