15 April 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced that Daniel Edward Rogers pleaded guilty yesterday to smuggling 85 machine guns and 4 grenade launchers from Vietnam to San Francisco in 1994.
Mr. Rogers, 57, of Quilcene, Washington, was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on May 10, 1995. After learning of the charges, he remained in Southeast Asia, where he lived as a fugitive for nine years until Thai immigration authorities detained him for traveling on a revoked United States Passport in January 2004. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Rogers and returned him to the United States.
U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan stated, “Mr. Rogers, a former law enforcement officer, was apprehended and brought to justice for smuggling over 100 machine guns, grenade launchers and pistols into the United States. Due to the cooperation between the Thai authorities and federal law enforcement, Mr. Rogers, a fugitive for nine years, is now being held accountable for his actions. I want to thank the Thai authorities and federal law enforcement for their tenacity and perseverance.”
Mr. Rogers, who was previously employed for six years as a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy, pleaded guilty to all counts of the pending indictment, without entering into a plea agreement. In pleading guilty, Mr. Rogers admitted to acquiring machine guns, grenade launchers, and pistols in Vietnam and arranging for their shipment to San Francisco on two Air France airline flights in 1994. The weapons were sold to an undercover agent of the former United States Customs Service (now Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Mr. Rogers and a co-conspirator used the name of a foreign entity, A.T. Ltd., in the transaction.
On May 14, 1994, Rogers smuggled the following weapons to San Francisco:
* one M-79 grenade launcher
* four AK-47 machine guns
* six M-16 machine guns
* five Thompson machines guns, and;
* ten pistols
On August 28, 1994, Roger smuggled the following weapons to San Francisco:
* three M-79 grenade launchers
* eleven M-3 machine guns
* fifteen Thompson machine guns
* twenty-two M-16 machine guns
* twenty AK-47 machine guns
* two M-60 machine guns
* eighteen pistols
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Rogers on April 8, 2004, charging him with 10 counts of possession and transfer of machine guns, possession of unregistered machines guns and destructive devices (grenade launchers), importation contrary to law, engaging in the business of importing firearms without a license, transportation of machine guns and destructive devices in foreign commerce without a license, and conspiracy to commit these acts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(o), 545, 922(a)(1)(A), 922(a)(4) and 371, and 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d).
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement cited the case as an excellent example of cooperation between Thai and United States immigration authorities. Mr. Rogers, who had lived in Vietnam with his Vietnamese wife for approximately nine years, was detained by Thai authorities in Bangkok in January 2004 as he attempted to fly to Mexico City, Mexico.
The sentencing of Mr.Rogers is scheduled for June 15, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Fern M. Smith in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) and 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) is ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution. The maximum statutory penalty for each of the remaining six counts to which Mr. Rogers pled guilty is five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553.
The prosecution is the result of a lengthy investigation by Special Agents Peter Louie and Kevin Kinnee of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Special Agents John Lee and Carl Anuszcyk of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Andrew M. Scoble and Kirstin M. Ault are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Legal Technicians Cherell Hallett and Ponly Tu, and Paralegal Lili Arauz.
A copy of this press release and related court filings may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can . Related court documents and information may be found on the U.S. District Court website at www.cand.uscourts.gov or on .
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay3@usdoj.gov .
