By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
A former contract security guard who stole guns, ammunition and firearms parts from the ATF and then sold them was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison.
Christopher Lee Yates, of Martinsburg, W.V., admitted in court that he stole the items from ATF’s National Firearms and Ammunition Destruction Branch facility near Martinsburg.
An investigation found that Yates stole the guns, ammunition and firearm parts while serving as a security guard from 2016 to 2019.
The theft prompted an investigation that helped the ATF recover 4,625 guns and firearm parts. They included 120 rifles, 60 pistols, four automatic machine guns and three components to make rocket launchers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
What remains unclear is why the ATF didn’t have safeguards in place to avoid the thefts.
