Contact: Joel B. Casey
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373
Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Hayri Berberoglu, 31, of Bangor, Maine pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to conspiring to violate federal firearms laws.
According to court documents, between approximately February 7, 2012 and October 12, 2012, Bergerlogu was employed at a Brewer, Maine pawn shop which was licensed to sell firearms. During that time, Berberlogu knowingly facilitated multiple straw purchases of firearms by selling them to people who falsely claimed to be the actual buyers of the firearms. In fact, as Berberlogu knew or had reasonable cause to know, all of those people were buying the firearms on behalf of non-Maine residents who were prohibited under federal law from purchasing firearms. To accomplish these straw purchases, Berberlogu participated in the falsification of documents that are required to be submitted to the federal government in connection with the sale of firearms.
The conspiracy count carries a maximum prison sentence of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and up to three years supervised release. Berberlogu will be sentenced after a presentence report is prepared by the United States Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Maine Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New Haven, Connecticut Office of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance provided by the Brewer, Maine Police Department.