Hitman Firearms

The Chinese guy will make bail and sneak into Canada for the next flight to Peking on a fake passport, compliments of the Chinese Government, The Cop will be suspended with pay pending the outcome.... I hope he likes General Population in a Federal Prison, he is going to be very popular inside.
I don't think that will be the case, as Tyngsborough is not a "Civil Service" town, The Town Manager will most likely fire him and then selectmen will confirm
 
Curious is Whitman American born Chinese. I can not find a picture of him. Is he the taller person all tacticaled out

Lu is listed on the FFL as a manager of Hitman Firearms and is also an investor in the store.

It is alleged that Lu and Whitman sought to build a large indoor shooting range, Freedom Alley Shooting Sports (FASS), which would serve regional and international customers, and offer shooting clinics and other services using funding from Chinese investors. On several occasions, Lu and Whitman did run firearms training camps, consisting of shooting and tactics trainings, for Chinese tourists. Providing such trainings to foreign nationals requires a license from the U.S. Department of State, which Whitman and Lu never applied for nor received.
it is an odd story indeed. i am thinking more of it to correlate with this:
 
Curious is Whitman American born Chinese. I can not find a picture of him. Is he the taller person all tacticaled out

Lu is listed on the FFL as a manager of Hitman Firearms and is also an investor in the store.

It is alleged that Lu and Whitman sought to build a large indoor shooting range, Freedom Alley Shooting Sports (FASS), which would serve regional and international customers, and offer shooting clinics and other services using funding from Chinese investors. On several occasions, Lu and Whitman did run firearms training camps, consisting of shooting and tactics trainings, for Chinese tourists. Providing such trainings to foreign nationals requires a license from the U.S. Department of State, which Whitman and Lu never applied for nor received.
No.
 
The Chinese guy will make bail and sneak into Canada for the next flight to Peking on a fake passport, compliments of the Chinese Government, The Cop will be suspended with pay pending the outcome.... I hope he likes General Population in a Federal Prison, he is going to be very popular inside.
Cop has been suspended since last year.
 
it is an odd story indeed. i am thinking more of it to correlate with this:
I think if there was an armed pro-democracy uprising in HK, the CCP would crush them flatter than Tiananmen Square.
 
Dealing with the Chinese is a bad career move for an FFL. The "Chinese connection" is what got Steve Holmquist, former owner of ARMCO, indicited and convicted on federal charges.

Walk around SHOT Show, the amount of Chinese manufacturers is insane.
 

A Tyngsborough police officer and a Chinese national were arrested today and charged with firearms violations.

Daniel Whitman, 36, of Pelham, N.H., and Bin Lu, 49, a Chinese national residing in Westford, were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) by making, possessing and failing to register short-barreled rifles, as well as possessing a suppressor without proper registration. The defendants will make initial appearances today in federal court in Boston.



The rest of the article is pretty well written. Purchased MCX pistol and put on a stock. Purchased lower and built into SBR. Is an 01 and not an 07 (cant manufacture). Does not have an SOT (cant possess NFA items). Gave tactical lessons to non US persons (chinese nationals) without the necessary export license. Overall, totally screwed whether through ignorance of arogance.

I can only imagine what the guys at the sportsman's club think of all this.
 
I can easily imagine what the officers at all the other sportsmen's clubs think of all this.


BTW...

Q: Does anyone know whether the ITAR training issue applies to all non-citizens,
or only non-residents?
For ITAR foreign person is any person who is not a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. and includes foreign governments and organizations.
 
I can easily imagine what the officers at all the other sportsmen's clubs think of all this.


BTW...

Q: Does anyone know whether the ITAR training issue applies to all non-citizens,
or only non-residents?
non residents/non immigrant visa holders can not possess guns or ammo unless they go through proper channels and are doing it for legit sporting purpose, they usually have to obtain a hunting license, etc. Resident green card holders can buy guns and ammo, get resident alien FID card here in MA, etc.
 
Q: Does anyone know whether the ITAR training issue applies to all non-citizens,
or only non-residents?
ITAR does not apply to U.S. persons. That includes both citizens and permanent residents.

However, there are exceptions. If a U.S. citizen or permanent resident is working for a foreign government or even foreign company, then they are not a U.S. Person according to ITAR.

I highly doubt anybody would get in trouble for training, or selling NVGs, to a U.S. citizen who works for a foreign company. But it does technically still apply. Like, if person A worked at a defense contractor, and their spouse worked for a foreign company, technically person A couldn’t show their spouse most of their work and would have to ensure they always locked their computer while working at home. Make sure their spouse could ever see their screen. And no printed work papers (even unclassified) at home.
 
I know Bin Lu by reputation. He has been a cringe-worthy joker among ethic Chinese firearm instructors, showing plenty of safety violations in his online videos. Apparently he was uploading videos as recent as three days ago:



Chinese tourists/students/new immigrants bring a lot of money and shooting guns is the coolest forbidden fruit they couldn't do in China. I know many Chinese instructors try to tap into this market. Some are oblivious to laws, willfully violate them or worse even post evidence all over social media.

This isn't the first one get busted and won't be the last.
 
non residents/non immigrant visa holders can not possess guns or ammo unless they go through proper channels and are doing it for legit sporting purpose, they usually have to obtain a hunting license, etc. Resident green card holders can buy guns and ammo, get resident alien FID card here in MA, etc.
Green card holders can get LTCs on the same basis as any citizen, though I believe they have to include the permanent resident number on the application. Under Fletcher v. Hass this is limited to green card holders, and does not cover those legally here on a visa or visa free travel arrangement.
 
And more to the story

TYNGSBORO — A Westford man, charged with a Tyngsboro police officer with conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws, agreed to plead guilty to part of the firearm accusation and a new count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud for allegedly hiding a $6 million investment from a secret Chinese investor while applying for over $15 million in loans from local banks, according to court records.


Filings made in U.S. District Court in Boston by prosecutors — which recommend prison time — appear to implicate the local officer in the scheme.


Bin Lu, 49, a Chinese national living in Westford, and Daniel Whitman, 36, of Pelham, N.H. — a former president of the Tyngsboro Police patrolmans’ union — were arrested in early January in connection with alleged firearms violations at Hitman Firearms, a store Whitman owns and Lu invests in at 440 Middlesex Road, Tyngsboro.

The gun charge is based, in part, on allegations that Lu and Whitman conspired to convert a Sig Sauer MCX pistol owned by Hitman Firearms into a more highly regulated short-barreled rifle, which the store was not properly licensed to manufacture. The pistol was converted when Whitman added a folding stock to it, according to prosecutors.


Lu has now agreed to plead guilty to possessing that unregistered gun, which was in his possession when federal agents conducted searches connected to the probe.


The federal agents’ search of Hitman Firearms last year was the first time word of the investigation became known.


At the initial court appearance of the two men in January, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia Carris told a federal magistrate that the firearms charge was only part of the investigation into Lu and Whitman, and that “There is a significant piece of this involving both defendants that involves dealings with China.”


At least part of that “significant piece” emerged in court documents this week, and it relates to another business Lu and Whitman are involved with in Tyngsboro — Freedom Alley Shooting Sports.

Freedom Alley Shooting Sports (FASS) was permitted by the town in 2016 to construct a roughly 36,000-square-foot gun range, store, and law enforcement training facility at 40 and 44 Cummings Road. Construction of the facility was started, but not completed before some of the required permits expired and the company defaulted on at least one loan.

The information — a type of federal court charging document — Lu agreed to plead guilty to says Lu and Whitman told the Lowell Five, Avidia Bank, and the U.S. Small Business Administration in separate loan applications that Whitman and a relative of Lu — referred to as “the sham owner” in court documents — each owned 50% of FASS.


But in reality, 79% of FASS was owned by a Chinese investor who signed an agreement with Lu and Whitman to provide up to $6 million in funding in exchange for the majority ownership stake, according to the information. That investor and his wife — referred to only as Y.M. and S.F. in court documents — have no residential ties to the U.S. and provided at least $4 million worth of that funding in 2017, just as Lu and Whitman were applying for over $15 million in loans, according to the information.


The information Lu agreed to plead guilty to says he and Whitman failed to disclose the true identity of FASS’ majority owner when they applied for a $6.5 million loan from the Lowell Five in August 2017; when they applied for a $3.7 million loan from the Small Business Administration via Avidia Bank in September 2017; and when they applied for a $5.34 million loan — along with a $250,000 bridge loan — from Avidia Bank in October 2017.


“In or about November 2017, CC-1 and Lu obtained the $250,000 Bridge Loan from Avidia,” the information states. “Shortly thereafter, CC-1 and Lu defaulted on that loan.”


In each instance, Lu and Whitman were legally required to reveal the majority owner. In the case of the SBA loan, anyone from outside the country owning more than 50% of the company would have disqualified the application, according to the information.


The plea agreement says prosecutors agreed not to charge Lu’s spouse or another of his relatives, but makes no mention of any agreements for Lu to testify against co-defendants.


While Co-defendant 1 (CC-1) is not named in the document, the individual is described as being a Pelham, N.H., resident, a Massachusetts police officer, and the owner and manager of Hitman Firearms — an unmistakable reference to Whitman, the owner of Hitman.

The agreement, which was signed by Lu; his attorney; Carris; and Dustin Chao, chief of the public corruption and special prosecutions unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, says Lu’s total “offense level” under federal sentencing guidelines will be 24, in part because of his guilty plea reducing the number.


According to federal sentencing guidelines posted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an offense level of 24 would see Lu face at least 51 months in federal prison if he has no criminal record. The plea agreement says prosecutors will recommend the minimum sentence. It also includes a provision in which Lu agrees not to appeal any sentence of 51 months or less. The government is also seeking forfeiture of some of Lu’s property in order to recover losses suffered due to the case.


Lu’s attorney, Paul Kelly, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The plea agreement says Lu intends to dispute a finding that the conspiracy caused over $9.5 million in losses. That finding led to a major increase in the amount of prison time Lu faces.


Whitman’s attorney, Oscar Cruz, declined to comment.


Lu is free on a secured $30,000 bond someone posted for him earlier this year. Whitman is free on a $20,000 unsecured bond, and remains on paid leave from Tyngsboro Police.


Tyngsboro Police Chief Richard Howe first placed Whitman on paid leave in August 2019 due to the federal investigation into his activities. Selectmen questioned the length of that suspension as they weighed a union grievance over the matter late last year, with Howe coming under fire during those hearings.


Howe wanted a harsher penalty for Whitman, but got push back from a majority of the Board of Selectmen.


Federal court records show no new activity in Whitman’s pending case since April, when a judge, over the objections of prosecutors, agreed to let Whitman take a “recreational” trip to Fort Myers, Fla., with friends. Whitman is not allowed to leave the New England states without permission from the federal court.


Whitman was one of three current and former Tyngsboro Police union officials investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in connection with questions over whether the officials misspent police union money. That investigation was closed without charges being filed.

An internal police investigation into the matter was heavily criticized by Tyngsboro selectmen as they voted in executive session to return another of the officials, Lt. Shaun Wagner, to duty last week.


To download federal charging document detailing the allegations, click here.


To download the plea agreement signed by Lu and prosecutors, click here.
 
And more to the story

TYNGSBORO — A Westford man, charged with a Tyngsboro police officer with conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws, agreed to plead guilty to part of the firearm accusation and a new count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud for allegedly hiding a $6 million investment from a secret Chinese investor while applying for over $15 million in loans from local banks, according to court records.


Filings made in U.S. District Court in Boston by prosecutors — which recommend prison time — appear to implicate the local officer in the scheme.


Bin Lu, 49, a Chinese national living in Westford, and Daniel Whitman, 36, of Pelham, N.H. — a former president of the Tyngsboro Police patrolmans’ union — were arrested in early January in connection with alleged firearms violations at Hitman Firearms, a store Whitman owns and Lu invests in at 440 Middlesex Road, Tyngsboro.

The gun charge is based, in part, on allegations that Lu and Whitman conspired to convert a Sig Sauer MCX pistol owned by Hitman Firearms into a more highly regulated short-barreled rifle, which the store was not properly licensed to manufacture. The pistol was converted when Whitman added a folding stock to it, according to prosecutors.


Lu has now agreed to plead guilty to possessing that unregistered gun, which was in his possession when federal agents conducted searches connected to the probe.


The federal agents’ search of Hitman Firearms last year was the first time word of the investigation became known.


At the initial court appearance of the two men in January, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia Carris told a federal magistrate that the firearms charge was only part of the investigation into Lu and Whitman, and that “There is a significant piece of this involving both defendants that involves dealings with China.”


At least part of that “significant piece” emerged in court documents this week, and it relates to another business Lu and Whitman are involved with in Tyngsboro — Freedom Alley Shooting Sports.

Freedom Alley Shooting Sports (FASS) was permitted by the town in 2016 to construct a roughly 36,000-square-foot gun range, store, and law enforcement training facility at 40 and 44 Cummings Road. Construction of the facility was started, but not completed before some of the required permits expired and the company defaulted on at least one loan.

The information — a type of federal court charging document — Lu agreed to plead guilty to says Lu and Whitman told the Lowell Five, Avidia Bank, and the U.S. Small Business Administration in separate loan applications that Whitman and a relative of Lu — referred to as “the sham owner” in court documents — each owned 50% of FASS.


But in reality, 79% of FASS was owned by a Chinese investor who signed an agreement with Lu and Whitman to provide up to $6 million in funding in exchange for the majority ownership stake, according to the information. That investor and his wife — referred to only as Y.M. and S.F. in court documents — have no residential ties to the U.S. and provided at least $4 million worth of that funding in 2017, just as Lu and Whitman were applying for over $15 million in loans, according to the information.


The information Lu agreed to plead guilty to says he and Whitman failed to disclose the true identity of FASS’ majority owner when they applied for a $6.5 million loan from the Lowell Five in August 2017; when they applied for a $3.7 million loan from the Small Business Administration via Avidia Bank in September 2017; and when they applied for a $5.34 million loan — along with a $250,000 bridge loan — from Avidia Bank in October 2017.


“In or about November 2017, CC-1 and Lu obtained the $250,000 Bridge Loan from Avidia,” the information states. “Shortly thereafter, CC-1 and Lu defaulted on that loan.”


In each instance, Lu and Whitman were legally required to reveal the majority owner. In the case of the SBA loan, anyone from outside the country owning more than 50% of the company would have disqualified the application, according to the information.


The plea agreement says prosecutors agreed not to charge Lu’s spouse or another of his relatives, but makes no mention of any agreements for Lu to testify against co-defendants.


While Co-defendant 1 (CC-1) is not named in the document, the individual is described as being a Pelham, N.H., resident, a Massachusetts police officer, and the owner and manager of Hitman Firearms — an unmistakable reference to Whitman, the owner of Hitman.

The agreement, which was signed by Lu; his attorney; Carris; and Dustin Chao, chief of the public corruption and special prosecutions unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, says Lu’s total “offense level” under federal sentencing guidelines will be 24, in part because of his guilty plea reducing the number.


According to federal sentencing guidelines posted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an offense level of 24 would see Lu face at least 51 months in federal prison if he has no criminal record. The plea agreement says prosecutors will recommend the minimum sentence. It also includes a provision in which Lu agrees not to appeal any sentence of 51 months or less. The government is also seeking forfeiture of some of Lu’s property in order to recover losses suffered due to the case.


Lu’s attorney, Paul Kelly, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The plea agreement says Lu intends to dispute a finding that the conspiracy caused over $9.5 million in losses. That finding led to a major increase in the amount of prison time Lu faces.


Whitman’s attorney, Oscar Cruz, declined to comment.


Lu is free on a secured $30,000 bond someone posted for him earlier this year. Whitman is free on a $20,000 unsecured bond, and remains on paid leave from Tyngsboro Police.


Tyngsboro Police Chief Richard Howe first placed Whitman on paid leave in August 2019 due to the federal investigation into his activities. Selectmen questioned the length of that suspension as they weighed a union grievance over the matter late last year, with Howe coming under fire during those hearings.


Howe wanted a harsher penalty for Whitman, but got push back from a majority of the Board of Selectmen.


Federal court records show no new activity in Whitman’s pending case since April, when a judge, over the objections of prosecutors, agreed to let Whitman take a “recreational” trip to Fort Myers, Fla., with friends. Whitman is not allowed to leave the New England states without permission from the federal court.


Whitman was one of three current and former Tyngsboro Police union officials investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in connection with questions over whether the officials misspent police union money. That investigation was closed without charges being filed.

An internal police investigation into the matter was heavily criticized by Tyngsboro selectmen as they voted in executive session to return another of the officials, Lt. Shaun Wagner, to duty last week.


To download federal charging document detailing the allegations, click here.


To download the plea agreement signed by Lu and prosecutors, click here.
A lot of information in that article.
I didn't think newspapers did that anymore.
 
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