Sentence rendered in machine gun case
By Alexandra Bogdanovic
A federal court judge on Friday sentenced David Justin Flohr to four years in prison and three years of supervised release.
Flohr is one of two men accused of trying to sell machine guns to an undercover ATF agent in Warrenton this spring. He pleaded guilty this summer to one count of conspiracy to transfer and possess a machine gun; one count of transfer and possession of a machine gun; and one count of possession of unregistered firearms.
Flohr could have faced as much as 57 to 71 months in prison.
Prosecutors said they asked Judge Gerald Bruce Lee to impose a sentence “at the high end” of sentencing guidelines.
U.S. Attorney Patrick A. McDade argued that a stiff sentence would be appropriate given the seriousness of Flohr's conduct.
“The defendant's conduct is egregious given the devastation that illegal guns cause to society,” McDade said in documents filed before the sentencing hearing. “The defendant believed that he was arming strangers with 10 high-powered, destructive devices, and that those strangers were willing to use those weapons. The defendant, aware of these circumstances, did not hesitate to place his machine guns into the hands of these strangers.”
Flohr's attorney, John Keats, argued that the sentencing guidelines were too harsh. He said there was nothing to support a probation officer's conclusion that Flohr was a ring-leader. The probation officer's “findings” caused an unwarranted increase in the sentencing guidelines, Keats maintained.
“This assertion is an extreme overstatement of the defendant's role,” Keats argued. “Essentially in this case, the defendant got together with his co-worker and the two of them agreed to work together on the sale of some illegal weapons. Each of the co-defendants in this case are equally as culpable, and the defendant should not receive a greater punishment based on the facts in this case.”
Lee ruled that an imprisonment range of 57 to 71 months would be too long given Flohr's age and lack of criminal history.
William Terrell “Terry” Fant, the co-defendant in the case also pleaded guilty to one count of transferring and possessing a machine gun this summer.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled to be held in federal court in Alexandria at 9 a.m. Nov. 7.
E-mail the reporter: abogdanovic@timespapers.com