FN 509 Midsize in a hard-shell travel case / Photo by Jack Shepherd via Full Mag News
A Pontiac man has been arrested by the ATF for renting out guns to criminals that he had purchased using a stolen ID.
Pontiac, Michigan was recently paid a visit by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives(ATF) because one man, Bryce Cato, was renting out guns that he had illegitimately purchased. The man had purchased a variety of firearms from gun stores using a stolen identity, all of the paperwork including the background check is believed to have been done with the stolen identity he had. Cato was only caught as a result of his also using a stolen credit card.
As for how his criminal enterprise was managed. Bryce Cato bought a series of firearms under a stolen identity and then would rent these firearms to criminals and thugs alike for a fee. If these firearms were not returned then the price of his other wears would go up. Sometimes Cato would not buy these firearms himself, he would enlist the help of his girlfriend, who lived with him, in buying these firearms.
This entire operation hinged on two separate pins, the stolen identities and the money to initially buy these firearms. Both of these acceptances of Cato’s scheme came from the same place, cyber crime. Cato was someone who is technically gifted and he managed to hack into several internet websites and steal social security information from said sites, or buy it from another cyber thief. With these stolen identities he would steal unemployment checks from people in California by claiming the funds using their own information.
Like all criminals Cato probably thought he was invincible at this point and branched out into real world crime, this is where he got caught and implicated himself in some very serious crimes. Several of the guns he had illegally purchased were used in shootings and he may now be the one on the hook for all of those crimes.
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