DOJ Launches Investigation Into ‘Anything For A Buck’ Operation

February 21, 2014

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has launched an investigation into four ATF storefront stings around the country, including “Operation Anything For A Buck” in Escambia County, Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said Thursday.

One of the key findings made by the OIG in its 2012 report, A Review of Operation Fast and Furious and Related Matters, was that ATF had failed to exercise sufficient oversight over activities that posed a danger to the public or otherwise presented special risks. As a result, the ATF established the Monitored Case Program in July 2011.

Following more recent allegations regarding ATF’s use of storefront operations, the OIG has learned that four such operations – in Milwaukee, Pensacola, St. Louis, and Wichita — continued or began after the inception of the Monitored Case Program, the agency said. T

The investigations center around ATF activities in the undercover operations;  the Escambia  County Sheriff’s Office nor any another local agency is being investigated.

The OIG has now initiated a separate review that will examine these four operations for possible systemic deficiencies in ATF’s storefront operations policies, and evaluate the effectiveness of the Monitored Case Program as an oversight tool in these operations.

The investigation was launched following a detailed Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation that, according to the newspaper, “exposed foul-ups and failures in undercover government operations across the country”.

The newspaper’s investigation found “the ATF used mentally disabled people to promote operations and then arrested them for their work; opened storefronts close to schools and churches, increasing arrest numbers and penalties; and attracted juveniles with free video games and alcohol.”

One Operation Anything for Buck Escambia County case investigated by the newspaper was that of  mentally retarded 24-year old Jeremy Lee Norris who lived in poverty with his parents and fiancee. His IQ, according to court documents was just 76, and he was often further impaired by drug use.

“He is naive, but charming, and completely dependent on his fiancee and family to help him navigate through life. In short, Jeremy Norris was no match for the team of undercover law enforcement officers who injected themselves into his life in the spring of 2011,” his attorney, Jennifer Hart, wrote in federal court documents.

Videotapes show Norris always assisted by a family member, even led around by the back of his shirt by his fiancee.

Norris place an ad in local Pensacola newspaper The Shopper advertising a handgun and shotgun for sale. The ad was answered by ATF agents who had established pawn shop “Anything for a Buck” operated by ATF agents and deputies from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The operation was lauded as being successful, with hundreds of firearms taken off the streets and dozens of defendants facing criminal charges.

Guns were purchased by felon Gary Renaud at the Escambia County storefront, which would result in charges if the person selling the gun knew he was a convicted felon.

Court documents show Norris did not know Renaud was felon when he sold his first gun, but Renaud told him before he sold subsequent weapons.  Anything for a Buck was paying so much for weapons that Norris, his fiancee and his parents would buy firearms at other gun stores and resell them at a profit to undercover officers.

Due to his low IQ, Norris was sentenced only to probation.

To read the full Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation click here.

Pictured: “Operation Anything for a Buck” is announced during November 2011  during a joint press conference at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Pictured below (courtesy WEAR): The “Anything for a Buck” storefront in Brownsville following the undercover operation.  NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

16 Responses to “DOJ Launches Investigation Into ‘Anything For A Buck’ Operation”

  1. Scott on February 23rd, 2014 6:57 am

    Escambia County gets to do what they want when they want. Our government is still run off the “good ole boy” motto going back to McNesby, Junior, Childers and Smith. Remove all the “buddies” and there possibly won’t be so much lawbreaking by law enforcers.

  2. joe on February 22nd, 2014 10:18 pm

    Just another bunch of crooked cops with badges

  3. Ala. Bud on February 22nd, 2014 11:33 am

    We the people maybe the ones with the low IQ for putting up with anything this insane.

  4. R. A. F. on February 22nd, 2014 5:01 am

    The Department of Justice investigating the ATF? Yeah right – what a joke. Seems to me that the Escambia County Sheriffs Office and the State of Florida should launch their own investigation of the ATF’s CRIMINAL activities within this jurisdiction. Why does the federal government get to pick and choose what laws it wants to enforce AND what laws it wants to break?

  5. Predra on February 21st, 2014 6:30 pm

    Who stands up for people with mental disabilities…..Escambia county does not care about these people. Education is key and it will not happen in escambia county fl children are let down everyday why is anyone shocked when it happens when they are grown.

  6. Matt on February 21st, 2014 4:26 pm

    Apparently, when the DoJ can’t do their job right, they have to set up and arrest mentally handicapped people and kids to pad their stats while Fast and Furious guns kill families.

  7. jeeperman on February 21st, 2014 3:09 pm

    This sting was paying way more than street price for weapons.
    And they let all know that they would not ask where they came from.
    So then you have more burglaries by more criminals gathering up guns to cash in.
    Did you have some guns stolen to feed this ATF sting op?

  8. Tin Man on February 21st, 2014 2:57 pm

    Please read the story…..”the ATF used mentally disabled people to promote operations and then arrested them for their work; opened storefronts close to schools and churches, increasing arrest numbers and penalties; and attracted juveniles with free video games and alcohol.”
    If they are such great investigators, what is the purpose of engaging in the very unlawful acts they are supposedly there to stop. One has to wonder how much actual crime would be present if the government wasn’t running their “stings”. fast and Furious is a prime example. Nothing like committing a crime then punishing others for your activity and complicity.
    Amazing how the gov always seems to use “retarded” people in their schemes then pats themselves on the back for a great job. Really – enticed juveniles with video games AND ALCOHOL?????

  9. deBugger on February 21st, 2014 12:28 pm

    DOJ, ATF, SO ~ all Playing Fast & Loose, whether it be shooting or entrapping citizens, running criminal operations to catch criminals, or attempting to keep such activities secret from the public, then patting themselves on the back for clearing each other of any wrongdoing with In-House Investigations & Tomfoolery.

  10. 429SCJ on February 21st, 2014 10:12 am

    @Citizen, the feds were calling the shots. I am sure that Sheriff Morgan felt that the ATF would be able to competently handle the operation that his office was providing support to.

    We all learn something new everyday and I am sure that it is a safe bet that Sheriff Morgan will be keeping an eye on these characters in the future.

  11. Bob's Brother on February 21st, 2014 7:49 am

    I submit that this D. O. J. isn’t qualified to investigate a missing cat.

  12. William on February 21st, 2014 6:40 am

    >> Is Jennifer Hart, the attorney filing the case

    Jennifer Hart is not filing any case..she was an attorney for a defendant. There is no case…just an investigation by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General

  13. Someone on February 21st, 2014 6:19 am

    Sounds about right for Escambia County.

  14. bewildered on February 21st, 2014 5:59 am

    It would be interesting to know who is stirring up this investigation. A mentally retarded man who is unable to function on his own has a gun and a shotgun in his possession!!! Good grief – what is there to investigate? The Feds who are so determined about gun control should thank the sting operation for luring the mentally retarded man into selling the weapons before he went on a shooting spree killing people. If they want something to investigate they should concentrate on his intelligent fiancee and parents who allowed him access to the guns. I am certain if I bought guns and let minors or mentally challenged people resell them (as a cover-up) I would go to jail for endangerment. .
    PS: Is Jennifer Hart, the attorney filing the case, with a local law firm?

  15. gene on February 21st, 2014 4:08 am

    what was the fiancée IQ? was she held accountable? Sounds like a loop hole?

  16. 429SCJ on February 21st, 2014 3:31 am

    Gotta watch those boys and girls at ATF.

    DOJ too!

    Slow and easy or fast and furious?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News