It's not quite as good a deal as what Hunter Biden received from his dad, but a Pennsylvania man should still be thanking his lucky stars for the plea deal he received from federal prosecutors for his role in the smash-and-grab burglary of a gun store. Those of us who believe that actions should have consequences, on the other hand, should be livid over the relatively soft slap on the wrist doled out by Biden's DOJ.
19-year-old Steyn Sarduy pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and theft of a firearm from a licensed dealer in federal court in Pittsburgh on Monday. Though he won't be formally sentenced until mid-March, the deal reached with the U.S. Attorney's office calls for him to to spend just 2 1/2 years in federal prison for his role in the burglary and theft.
Investigators said that Sarduy and another man, Michael Guin, 27, of Lower Burrell, used a pickup truck as a battering ram around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 22 to break into RC Firearms on Freeport Street.
According to the criminal complaint, the men first stole the truck from Mold Men of Pittsburgh before driving to the gun store.
At first, they smashed the truck into a garage door next to RC Firearms. But when they realized that door did not access the gun store, they left for a few minutes, investigators said.
They then returned, smashing the truck through the front of RC Firearms.
Sarduy, who investigators said directed Guin where to strike the building, wore all black and had a black headlamp.
Once inside, Sarduy used a hammer to smash the display cases, and Guin followed, removing the guns, the criminal complaint said. The two spent about a minute in the store before fleeing, according to the complaint.
The pair stole a total of two dozen guns from RC Firearms. Though the pair were arrested just a few days after the break-in, police didn't recover any of the purloined firearms when they were taken into custody, and it's unclear if any of them have been found and returned to the gun store in the eleven months since the smash-and-grab took place.
Under federal law, theft of a firearm from a gun shop can result in a ten-year prison sentence. Theoretically, if Sarduy and Guin had been convicted at trial on 24 counts of theft, they could be looking at spending the rest of their lives behind bars.
In reality, even if they'd been convicted on multiple counts they would most likely have served their sentences concurrently, but ten years behind bars is a far more appropriate sentence than what Sarduy will receive.
Guin has also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft of a firearm from a licensed dealer, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm, so he's likely to get a slightly stiffer punishment than his accomplice when he's sentenced next month. Based on Sarduy's slap on the wrist, however, I'd be shocked if Guin gets more than five years in federal prison for his crimes.
Joe Biden's spent the past four years railing against the firearms industry, lawful gun owners, and Second Amendment advocates, while occasionally giving lip service to addressing gun traffickers and other bad actors. His administration has even tried to name and shame gun shops with 25 or more traces with a time-to-trace of 3 years or less in a calendar year, even though the ATF itself says those traces aren't a sign of wrongdoing on the part of FFLs.
It's entirely possible that RC Firearms will be among those gun shops, at least if the stolen firearms are recovered. Though the store's owners were the victims of a crime, if they're subjected to the ATF's Demand 2 program the gun control lobby and many of their allies in the media will portray them as "bad apple" dealers who are willfully arming criminals.
The Biden administration has been demonizing and denormalizing gun owners and sellers while routinely giving plea deals to gun thieves that amount to a slap on the wrist. Hopefully this will soon change when Donald Trump takes over, and Bidens' bizarre leniency for these offenders will come to an end.
