DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Texas

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
John M. Bales
, United States Attorney
Contact: Davilyn Walston

North Texas Man Sentenced for Attempting to Sell a Machinegun and Silencer

Man unwittingly attempted to sell the machinegun to an undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent

TYLER, Texas – A 22 year old Quinlin, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to sell a machinegun and silencer announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Colten David Barrow pleaded guilty on September 11, 2013, to attempting to sell a machine gun and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider.

According to information presented in court, both Barrow, and a co-defendant named Craig Marcus Cooper, traveled together to the Dukes Truck Stop on Highway 64 in Van Zandt County on January 31, 2012 to meet a prospective buyer with the intent to sell a fully automatic machinegun, equipped with a silencer, for $10,000.00.   What they didn’t know however, was that the prospective buyer was actually an undercover ATF agent.  Once Barrow got into the undercover agent’s vehicle with the machinegun, additional agents converged on the vehicle detaining both men and seizing the machinegun.  The machine gun was a Heckler & Koch (H&K), model MP5 SD, 9 mm caliber, fully automatic, machinegun with an attached silencer.

The machinegun had been reported stolen from its lawful, registered, owner approximately 10 years ago and it will be returned to him upon the conclusion of the case. 

This case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Tyler Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.

 

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Dallas Field Division