his first appeal was denied.

i think keith is on ice for another 4 years.

sucks.

I am only vaguely aware of what this is about, but if he is not out on bond pending appeal he can probably located here: www.bop.gov/inmate.html

Poor bastard, 4 years is a long time.

Inmate Register Number: 29182-044  

Name: KEITH BYRON BARANSKI  

Age: 33  

Race: WHITE  

Sex: MALE  

Projected Release Date: 7/03/2007  

Location : LEWISBURG USP  
RD #5, FEDERAL PRISON LEWISBURG , PA 17837  

Phone Number: (570)523-1251


iirc, keith got 60 months and james carmi received 42 months.  

you can locate keith, as aimless posted, thru the federal bureau of prison's inmate locator.

a google search will turn up all the info on web.

basically, keith imported some machineguns and krink parts sets and magazines from the kimtex corp. in bulgaria. he set his bud, tim, up as reseller of those products under the name of "progressive arms".

i bought two krink kits from tim.

tim folded progessive arms when his wife pressured him into re-upping in the coast guard. tim called keith and said 'come and get your shit', basically. by that time, the paperwork for the guns was all fucked up.

then keith gave his guns to james carmi to sell. carmi was a convicted felon that was operating under an ffl in his brother's name. some claim carmi's wife was in on the scam, also.

carmi got some dummied up demo letters by bribing leo's with free machineguns. keith then imported another batch of machineguns on those letters.

carmi got busted and rolled over on keith to get a reduced sentence. carmi received something like 42 months while keith got more.



some folks liked keith...others hate his guts. i bought mags and stuff from him and never had a problem. keith came up to bulletfest twice and was a pleasure to talk to. others failed to receive their products from keith...after the atf/fbi confiscated everything he owned.

the entire affair is a sad tale.

I would guess that the phone number would get you either a clerical person during the day shift or the prison guard that answers the general line into the prison during other hours. Might be different with a federal facility, haven't dealt with one of those in awhile.

You know.....if you ever met Keith, you couldn't help but to like him. (Just keep your kids away....foul mouth isn't the word) He really was a good guy. The Chief Thunder bullshit was all an act...kinda like WWF wrestling. (yes, sorry to break it to some of you, but it is fake)

actually, both leo agengcies that dealt with keith went to trial, also.

the chief of that rinky-dink police force (3-man iirc) in ill. got a reduced sentence (9 months? 12 months? my mind is failing me), but he still was sentenced to do some time.

i do not recall the outcome of the s.o. in new mexico, but he was convicted, also.

the feds take a dim view of monkey business in the world of firearms. that's why i keep harping on folks to stay on the right side of that line.



yes, chief was constantly fucking with the morons over on dotnutz. it was hysterical to watch them being played like a piano (that is still happening from what i read) and getting their blood pressure worked up over nothing.

be advised, if you write to keith your letter WILL be read by the prison staff prior to being forwarded to keith. if you plan a visit, you must be on his approved visitor list before they will admit you to see him.

Yeah, with bogus info, falsified FFl, incorrect end user's name. When someone imports 300+ FUNCTIONAL machineguns, SOMEONE may just check into it. These were not kits.

keith imported over 2000 machineguns and he did import parts kits, again, over 2000 krinkov kits.

Claim? HA.

i do not recall is she (was it vicki???) was prosecuted.

Are you saying Keith had no knowledge of the bogus letters? HA, again. Keith knew damn good and well the letters were bogus, and stuck his ass on the line anyway.

carmi was not even in the picture when keith was selling thru his friend, tim, at progressive arms. keith got tied up with carmi after tim folded and left keith in a bind.

Yes, Campybob, it is a sad tale when people think they can do an end run around the Customs Dept., ATF, with the blessing's of the local brain dead PD.

i'm not following you here. please explain.

I personally have no bad feelings against Keith, but his BUDDY of so many years Mr. Carmi, screwed me to the tune $6000 for an MP5 that mysteriously never showed up at my dealer. Probably had something to do with him being arrested, huh?

yes, carmi screwed over a lot of people...including keith. you lost $6k. keith lost 5 years.

These two fuckwits knew exactly what they were doing was illegal, as well as just plain dumb.

i'm not convinced that keith was in on the scam. he had to much to lose.

As far as the local PD goes, HELL NO no one will be prosecuted, well uh, gee they are the police!

again, please explain about the 'local' police. i'm lost.

When questioned by the feds the local PD claimed they were "conducting an investigation on the importation of illegal weapons." Bullshit. The only thing that was conducted was a large scale operation on how to cover their asses. And they did.

would this be the police in keith's ao or the police in carmi's ao?

Yes, I was a dumbass for dealing with Carmi. However I had no idea of his past felony convictions.

what makes you think that keith wasn't in the same boat? carmi scammed everyone, imo.

Just like the ATF had no knowledge of a convicted felon "dealer" with no FFL. Anyone wonder why the ATF never offered a public press release?

the atf railroaded keith because they had egg all over their face...only it was more like an omlet. so did the state dept. for approving the form 06's. so did the u.s. customs dept. in fact, EVERYONE ended up with a red face...thanks to carmi.

Maybe they did not like the idea of a felon selling machineguns, and thumbing his nose at them. What do you think the media would have done with this?

had a field day. that's why they buried keith deep.

This mess was the reason I left AK47.convictedfelon.net.

i can fully understand your reasoning for doing so.

It seems I am the bad guy for relaying that Keith got himself into this mess willingly.

we disagree on that point. keith was young, inexpirienced and got led astray...twice. he had hundreds of thousands of dollars invested...which he lost. i was told his trial defense costs are over $100k...after he fired his first lawyer. bet you didn't know that even his first lawyer screwed him over? i could talk for hours on just that subject.

or his clinton appointed black, liberal judge that refused to hear evidence for the defense? brother, i think i could give you some fact abouts keith'd trial that would curl your toes.

Yes, Carmi is the turd here, and should burn in hell for the problems he caused Keith and everyone else involved.

carmi will slough this off. that's what career crimals do. my guess is that when he hits the streets...long before keith will!...he'll go back to finding the scan de jour to pull off.

Keith knew what he was doing, and unfortunately is paying the price.

here's where we disagree. just my guess, but knowing keith...i'll bet he tries to make things right. unlike carmi, who will have a pitol in his pocket the minute he clears the prison gates, keith will never be able to own a firearm again in his life.

Thanks for your time.

no sweat, mate. i feel badly for you. you, and a bunch of other honest folf, got caught up in carmi's scam.

was keith the smartest business man on the block? nope. not by a long shot.

but...was he a crook? in my opinion...no, he was not.