The kind of small businessman the NRA loves

The Chaparral gun dealer who sold nearly 200 firearms to a Columbus gun-smuggling ring walked free Friday after a federal judge reduced his prison term.

During a re-hearing, Judge Robert Brack reduced Ian Garland’s 60-month sentence to 37 months, after the defense argued that a more lenient sentencing guideline should have been applied in the case…

Brack also said that the 60-month sentence “was more than I felt comfortable with” and agreed with the shift to a different sentencing guideline.

More than a dozen people were arrested in connection with the smuggling ring more than two years ago, including a former Columbus mayor, village trustee and police chief. The ring trafficked weapons to Mexico, where criminal organizations continue to fight over lucrative smuggling routes. Gun sales and ownership are largely prohibited in Mexico, yet criminal gangs are often heavily armed.

Garland pleaded guilty in July 2011 to conspiracy and six counts of assisting others in making false statements in the acquisition of firearms. He admitted to selling 193 firearms to straw buyers, or intermediaries who purchase weapons on behalf of others who legally cannot buy them or want to hide their identity.

Choking back tears, Garland told the judge Friday that he wants to “become a productive member of society”…

Combined with time earned for good conduct and more than 33 months already spent in prison since his arrest, the court determined his sentence had been served. Brack ordered three years’ probation, and Garland is expected to report to a Las Cruces halfway house.

Yup. American justice as applied to a gun dealer supplying weapons to Mexican drug cartels – which they use for killing cops and civilians in Mexico and the US as well as each other. Tears fell from his eyes and his crime is punished according to NRA sentencing guidelines.

BTW – the mayor of Columbus, NM, who also was part of the gun smuggling ring had his sentence reduced and was set free the day before. He served one year of his four year sentence.