HAMPTON, Va. — A Hampton man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Tuesday for illegally selling at least 49 firearms, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
The department outlined several times when Anthony Gale Turner, 54, sold firearms as part of his business, G7 Worldwide LLC, which he operated out of his residence on Pratt Street in Hampton.
The investigation into Turner began when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traced a handgun seized in Canada in 2020 back to the original purchaser.
According to the DOJ, the purchaser told ATF agents they completed the federal form required to buy the gun and provided Turner with their Virginia driver’s license but didn't pay for it nor take possession of it.
The firearm had been given to a person who had previously been convicted of a felony, who is prohibited from having firearms.
ATF also interviewed five other straw buyers of firearms from G7 Worldwide, who said Turner completed firearms transactions with their information in a similar way between 2018 and 2021.
In under two years, 46 out of the 49 firearms in Turner’s case were transferred from Turner to two known people with prior felony convictions through the five straw purchasers.
The DOJ said three other firearms were directly purchased by people with prior felony convictions themselves after informing Turner that they were prohibited from having firearms.
The final firearm was unlawfully sold to a person living out of state in violation of Turner’s duties as a licensed firearms dealer.
Law enforcement has eight of the firearms after they were seized in connection with criminal activity in Virginia, New Jersey and New York.
