Press Releases
FORMER GUN SHOP OWNER AND TWO EMPLOYEES SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR FEDERAL FIREARM VIOLATIONS
June 18, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TIMOTHY HARRIS, SR., age 55, a resident of Jefferson, Louisiana, was sentenced by United States District Judge Sarah S. Vance to thirty-seven (37) months imprisonment as to Counts 1 and 2 of a Bill of Information to be served concurrently. Also, the judge sentenced HARRIS to twenty-four (24) months as to Count 2 to be served consecutively to Count 2. Count 1 charged HARRIS with conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and to making false statements with respect to information required to be kept in the records of a federally licensed firearms dealer. Count 2 charged HARRIS with wire fraud. Count 3 charged HARRIS with aggravated identity theft, announced United States Attorney Jim Letten. In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge Vance imposed three (3) years of supervised release and a $10,000.00 fine. During the three-year term, the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should he violate any terms of his supervised release.
HERMANN EICKE, III, age 66, a resident of Kenner, Louisiana, was also sentenced to twenty-four (24) months imprisonment as to Count 1 of the Bill of Information. Count 1 charged EICKE with conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and to making false statements with respect to information required to be kept in the records of a federally licensed firearms dealer. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Vance imposed three (3) years of supervised release and a $6,000.00 fine. During the three-year term, the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should he violate any terms of his supervised release.
REBECCA ZITZMANN, age 43, a resident of Jefferson, Louisiana, was also sentenced to five (5) months imprisonment followed by five (5) months home incarceration for conspiracy to make false statements with respect to information required to kept in records of a federally licensed firearms dealer as to Count 4 fo the Bill of Information. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Vance imposed three (3) years of supervised release and a $3,000.00 fine. During the three-year term, the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should she violate any terms of her supervised release.
According to court documents, on November 28, 2007, HERMANN EICKE, III and TIMOTHY HARRIS, SR., entered pleas of guilty before Judge Sarah S. Vance to conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, and to making false statements with respect to information required to be kept in the records of a federally licensed firearms dealer. TIMOTHY HARRIS, SR. also pled guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. REBECCA ZITZMANN, pled guilty to conspiracy to make false statements with respect to information required to kept in records of a federally licensed firearms dealer.
The charges related to activities undertaken during the operation of Elliot’s Gun Shop, formerly located at 3008 Jefferson Highway, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Specifically, on or near February 1, 2005, TIMOTHY HARRIS, SR. and HERMANN EICKE, III agreed that EICKE would submit an application to acquire a federal firearms license and falsely represent that he would own and operate Elliot’s Gun Shop, if the application was approved. In fact, EICKE agreed to submit such application in order to enable HARRIS, who was prohibited from possessing a federal firearms license, to own, operate and receive the majority of revenue generated from the sale of firearms by Elliot’s Gun Shop. In exchange, HARRIS agreed to pay EICKE $1,000 a week as an employee of Elliot’s Gun Shop.
In April, 2005, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives approved the application submitted by EICKE, and on May 1, 2005, Elliot’s Gun Shop began operating under the actual hidden authority and control of HARRIS. From May 1, 2005, through May 16, 2007, Elliot’s Gun Shop sold approximately 13,200 firearms. With respect to a number of those firearm’s transactions, HERMANN EICKE, III and REBECCA ZITZMANN made, or encouraged others to make, false representations on forms which, in some cases, resulted in the transfer of firearms to purchasers who were prohibited from possessing such firearms. With respect to a number of other firearms transactions, HERMANN EICKE, III and REBECCA ZITZMANN forged, or encouraged others to forge, the signatures of customers who purchased firearms on forms to represent that those purchasers were not prohibited from possessing such firearms. Such transactions are known as “straw sales.”
In addition, TIMOTHY HARRIS, SR. engaged in a scheme in which he, without authority, altered forms, which contained government-issued credentials of law enforcement officers, which enabled him to purchase Glock firearms at discounted prices which he then sold to the general public for full retail price. The forms, which were originally legitimately executed by law enforcement officers for individual purchases, enabled Elliot’s Gun Shop to purchase Glock pistols at a discount price as long as the firearms were sold to law enforcement officers at a corresponding retail discount price. By falsely representing that the law enforcement officers subsequently purchased additional Glock pistols, TIMOTHY HARRIS, SR. was able to purchase additional Glock firearms at the wholesale discount price which he then sold for full retail price to members of the public, thereby increasing his profit margins.
HARRIS, EICKE, and ZITZMANN also agreed to forfeit to the United States approximately $247,000.00, in United States currency, two pieces of real property, a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche automobile, and, a 2006 Magic Tilt Nautic Star 2110 fishing boat. Additionally, the defendants have agreed to forfeit to the United States over 1,100 assorted firearms and 132,508 rounds of ammunition consisting of the gun shop’s inventory, which had been seized by ATF and Secret Service Agents at the time of the search and arrests. All three defendants were charged in a bill of information filed in U. S. District Court on September 25, 2007.
Speaking on today’s sentencing, David Harper, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s New Orleans Office stated:
“Today’s sentences represent the complete dismantling of an organization that fueled the violent crime in New Orleans for many years by illegally diverting guns from the legitimate trade to local violent criminals.”
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U. S. Secret Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Samuel D. Marsh, Steve Loew and Duane A. Evans.
(Download Factual Basis for Eicke, Harris, Zitzmann 
)
