What happen to this guy?  He had a great business for awhile.

Correct.

He got the shaft.  Someone got busted for fake import/LEO letters and fucked the Cheif.  Jeep or CB will explain it better.

Maybe we should all write to him in jail and give him our support.  I miss Progressive Arms.

More details? What's the story here?

This guy (Chief Thunder) was importing cheap AK magazines and undersold K-VAR on waffle mags, causing the market to lower the prices.  Because of Chief Thunder, we all benefitted on the reduced price of waffle magazines.  However, the guy was a rude Class A turd when it came personality and business sense.

He got involved with importing machine guns on what turned out to be bogus paperwork, if I recall correctly.  Consequently, he was sent to prison.

Link Here

Who is carmi?

I got stiffed on a mag purchase when Progressive went under,every e-mail [and every other correspondance ] I've had with Keith was abrasive.Personally,I would'nt piss on him if he was on fire!

I bought a ton of kits off of him and theres no doubt he got screwed. Feds offered him a mail fraud charge if they got to keep his stuff (ammo/kits/mags/etc). Keith told me it was 2 or 3 million worth of stuff. He told them to go F@#& themselves. Like him or hatem he got a raw deal.

You can be the biggest rudest prick ever (which arguably The Chief was), but nobody deserves to have a Federal Railroad run up their ass like he got...  Big fat crock of shit, the whole thing...  

You play with fire, you are going to get burned.

You skirt the line for post samples (WTF does a LEO agency need with a Dshk .50 cal?), sooner or later the ATF will get you for something.

On the subject of the Fed's conviction rate..............

It is that high. (Campy qouted 98.5% - which is correct , or darn near)

The reason it is that high is clearly seen when you look at Keith's case.

It starts as a pyramid, low man get's an easy out. Low man testifies against next guy (or breaches plea deal and goes down for a loooong time). Low guys does little or no time.

Cops in question don't wanna do time , role on phony dealer , phony dealer roles on Keith.

Lies , cover asses = screw last guy.

Score a few easy wins in the conviction catagory.

The Feds also like to shuffle you from county jail to county jail , interupting visits , commisary , attorney's visits , etc. This psychologically pressures you to take the deal. The Feds dragging a case out for years also has the same effect.

Settle , do your little bit , and life gets much easier. Or you can drag it out and roll the dice.

I feel safe in asserting , you face a 50/50 shot of conviction on a Fed case that ACTUALLY goes to trial.

I think Keith didn't want his principles and possibly other innocents to suffer by him taking the easy way out and 'rolling' (possibly making up lies to help convict others falsly - ala - Carmi ?? ).

Hard to beleive , but all that stress c-a-n make you not want to deal with too much extraneous BS , and can  tend to make one act crabby.

Say what you will , but there is something to be said for someone who will stand up , rather than sell themselves to avoid doing time.

The way you guys worship this guy. . . . . . . . . . . . . .he was either an idiot, or a crook.  It is dudes like him who give the gun industry a bad name.  Anybody who has half a brain knows that NO PD or Sheriff's Dept. in these United States issues its officers AK's!!!  Don't forget all the folks he ripped off, and his excuses like his "trips to Bulgaria" and his credit card machine  not working because of a thunderstorm!!! Yeah, right.   I wouldn't be suprised if Mr. Baranski himself also has a prior felony conviction or two.  Especially to get that much time.  That's probably why he didn't have an FFL-he wasn't able to get one.   It never ceases to amaze me how some of you folks rail on and on about how somebody got "screwed" when they get busted for breaking the law.  Yell "ENTRAPMENT" all you want, but that is how the system works.  And any idiot should know not to go into a courtroom with a soccer mom jury, especially when the phrase "AK-47" will most likely be mentioned multiple times.   What a dumbass!!!

Dude-- the bottom line is, he never broke the law!

There is nothing illegal about importing or selling fully automatic AK 47s.

Read the bill of rights-- THAT's THE LAW.  Everything else is just posturing.

IF he was sent to jail for selling guns, then the criminals are the people who sent him to jail.

End of story.

Worship .................NO.........Jesus fills that spot completely.

Idiot ? Most definately not.

Crook? Not from my knowledge. Some people may not have gotten stuff from him (where's my colored waffles? ) - but he never billed my CC.

No Sheriff or PD in the US issues AKs ? Recheck yer facts. In some western states and small departments they are a reliable cheap rifle.

The fact that he was an importer (ATF licensed-licensed in HIS name) meant that he indeed had a FFL and in order to obtain that license he had to be without a felony record before receiving his Importer of firearms License.

'To get that much time' - He 'got' around five years............the same sentence you would receive if the ATF prosecuted you for not having the proper amount of US made parts in your Post 89 pistol gripped semi-auto imported AK.

'that's how the system works' - TRUE

The fact is , until this case it was COMMON for a PD to send demo letters to a class III dealer for ALL manner of full auto firearms , for testing , training and possible purchase. The class III would then keep the 'toys' .

The lying Class III dealer Carmi ( who stole his un-felony convicted brother's ID to get the dealer's license) , did the 'shady deals' all Keith did was fill orders.

The thing that is unique is that he stood up and faced the music.

BTW now , dealers and importer's don't play ( and can't now )  " fast and loose" with the LE DEMO LETTER provision.

Yeah, right.  Most Chiefs and Sheriffs won't even let their officers have semi-auto rifles, much less full-auto AK's.  Why don't you check YER facts.  If you find a Dept. that is willing to authorize full-auto AK's for it's patrol officers, you let me know.  ALL HAIL THE CHIEF!!!  What an idiot!!

I am glad that you agree that the only substantive item left to question is the issuing of AK's to cops.