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Glock executives indicted

KBCraig

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Granite State of Mind
Indictment: Kansas Firearms Distributor
Paid Bribes And Kickbacks To Glock Executives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



June 4, 2014
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Kansas firearms distributor was indicted today on federal charges of paying more than $1 million in bribes and kickbacks to executives of the company that manufactures Glock pistols, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

John Sullivan Ralph, III, 40, Olathe, Kan., who was owner of Global Guns & Hunting Inc. of Olathe, Kan., doing business as OMB Guns, is charged with one count of conspiracy, 11 counts of wire fraud and10 counts of money laundering.

The indictment alleges Ralph secretly paid executives of Glock to receive preferential treatment over other distributors of firearms, including directing potential customers to his company, giving his company priority access to limited products, steering government contracts and sales to government agencies of firearms and accessories to his company, and providing confidential Glock information to him.
 

Darkshadow62988

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Iowa
A little more in description would be nice.

Last I checked copyright protects creativity, not facts:


A Kansas firearms distributor was indicted today on federal charges of paying more than $1 million in bribes and kickbacks to executives of the company that manufactures Glock pistols, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

John Sullivan Ralph, III, 40, Olathe, Kan., who was owner of Global Guns & Hunting Inc. of Olathe, Kan., doing business as OMB Guns, is charged with one count of conspiracy, 11 counts of wire fraud and10 counts of money laundering.
The indictment alleges Ralph secretly paid executives of Glock to receive preferential treatment over other distributors of firearms, including directing potential customers to his company, giving his company priority access to limited products, steering government contracts and sales to government agencies of firearms and accessories to his company, and providing confidential Glock information to him.

The following co-defendants are charged with the same counts as Ralph:
James “Craig” Dutton, 42, Acworth, Ga., who was the Assistant National Sales Manager for Glock. The American headquarters of Glock, Inc., is in Smyrna, Ga.
Lisa Delaine Dutton, 42, Acworth, Ga., who was Craig Dutton’s wife, and who formed a company called Supreme Solutions LLC. She is alleged to have concealed payments of bribes and kickbacks.
Welcome D. “Bo” Wood, Jr., 65, Oviedo, Fla., who was the Eastern Regional Manager for Glock.
Paula Ann Wood, 63, Oviedo, Fla, who was Bo Wood’s wife, and who formed a company called Tropical Marketing & Consulting LLC. She is alleged to have concealed payments of bribes and kickbacks.

According to the indictment, most of Glock’s pistols are sold to independent firearm distributors who have contracts with Glock to resell its pistols. The allocation of Glock pistols was important because the demand frequently exceeded the supply.
Glock created two different sales channels for purposes of licensing its distributors. One channel was for sales to law enforcement agencies. Independent distributors were authorized to resell Glock pistols to law enforcement agencies within a specific geographic territory. The other channel was for the commercial market. Distributors of commercial market products were not restricted to a particular geographic area.
Glock used a Universal Product Code to differentiate pistols that were sold for resale to law enforcement agencies (blue label products) from pistols sold for resale to the commercial market (red label products). The price list for pistols intended for resale to law enforcement agencies is lower due to the fact law enforcement agencies routinely buy in bulk and are often subject to bidding processes.

The indictment alleges Wood and Dutton provided Ralph with equipment and software to allow him to convert firearms sold with the law enforcement discount (blue label) to firearms sold at the premium price to the commercial market (red label). Ralph is alleged to have sold at least 14,000 pistols to commercial buyers – including Cabela’s – which Glock sold to Ralph for resale to law enforcement agencies.
The indictment alleges that from 2003 to 2009 Ralph used the U.S. Postal Service to send and receive approximately 140 bribes and kickbacks that were delivered to defendants Lisa Dutton and Paula Wood. Between 2009 and 2011, the indictment alleges, Ralph used wire transfers to send approximately 80 bribes and kickbacks.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Conspiracy: A maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million.
Wire fraud: A maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on each count.
Money laundering: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $50,000 on each count.
The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway is prosecuting.
 

swinokur

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Yeah, that extra mouse click would have been a deal breaker for me too.

Some forums have rules on posting copyrighted material. To avoid any issues I simply posted the link. If you don't want to read the article, no problem.
 
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WalkingWolf

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Bribes for special treatment, what a surprise!

Personally I can't see what he did was that different or wrong, considering that Glock bribes government agencies to buy their products. They sell guns to gov agents and former gov agents to push their products, and it is all legal.

This is part of a free market, buy for as low as possible, sell for as much as possible. The only crime is lying to the customer IMO, though there is little difference between a blue label and red label glock. Blue label comes with three mags and night sights, red label standard sights, and two mags.

Even if the distributor sold the third magazine separate, the buyers still got night sights, which is a 54 dollar option from Glock.

More waste of government money to make a criminal where there actually is no victim.
 
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Baked on Grease

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Sterling, Va.
Yeah, that extra mouse click would have been a deal breaker for me too.

Some forums have rules on posting copyrighted material. To avoid any issues I simply posted the link. If you don't want to read the article, no problem.

"Fair Use Quote" is used quite often on this site. So long as you don't post the entire article verbatim you are fine. At least give a small teaser description next to your link so we kmow if we would actually be interested in clicking it to read more... especiallly when many of us are on mobile.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
 

davidmcbeth

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earth's crust
Yeah, that extra mouse click would have been a deal breaker for me too.

Some forums have rules on posting copyrighted material. To avoid any issues I simply posted the link. If you don't want to read the article, no problem.

You can summarize it, right?

This looks like business as usual for many companies -- these two just got caught.

Sucks to be them....there will be a 50 dollar fine ..
 

since9

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Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Last I checked copyright protects creativity, not facts:

You are correct, Sir! "Copyright applies only to certain subject matter, codified within 17 U.S.C. § 102. Works that are not "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression" are not subject to copyright. 17 U.S.C. § 102(b) codifies that copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, etc. Facts may not be copyrighted."
 

WalkingWolf

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Well, actually, these executives violated Glock's policies on the matter, too, so even if the law wasn't involved, they were wrong and liable.

They violated the Glock contract, different from violating policies. I have violated Walmart policies on a few occasions, refused to show my receipt. Without a contract the policy is not binding. IMO this was a civil matter, not a criminal one.

There are a good number of police officers violating this policy, but they signed no contract. They buy Blue label and then turn around and sell the firearm for a price slightly higher than red label, but still less than buying red label and purchasing a third magazine and sending gun back for night sights.

Actually they might be breaking the law as they are buying guns for resale without having a FFL.
 
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KBCraig

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
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Granite State of Mind
Yeah, that extra mouse click would have been a deal breaker for me too.

Some forums have rules on posting copyrighted material. To avoid any issues I simply posted the link. If you don't want to read the article, no problem.

It's a .gov press release. It's not copyrighted, and is intended for redistribution. That's the entire point of a press release.
 

EMNofSeattle

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2012
Messages
3,670
Location
S. Kitsap, Washington state
Bribes for special treatment, what a surprise!

Personally I can't see what he did was that different or wrong, considering that Glock bribes government agencies to buy their products. They sell guns to gov agents and former gov agents to push their products, and it is all legal.

This is part of a free market, buy for as low as possible, sell for as much as possible. The only crime is lying to the customer IMO, though there is little difference between a blue label and red label glock. Blue label comes with three mags and night sights, red label standard sights, and two mags.

Even if the distributor sold the third magazine separate, the buyers still got night sights, which is a 54 dollar option from Glock.

More waste of government money to make a criminal where there actually is no victim.

Sounds to me like the distributor didn't make the required bribe to DOJ before proceeding..

This has "civil court" written all over it, why does the US Atty care is my question...
 
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Redbaron007

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Sep 10, 2011
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SW MO
They violated the Glock contract, different from violating policies. I have violated Walmart policies on a few occasions, refused to show my receipt. Without a contract the policy is not binding. IMO this was a civil matter, not a criminal one.

There are a good number of police officers violating this policy, but they signed no contract. They buy Blue label and then turn around and sell the firearm for a price slightly higher than red label, but still less than buying red label and purchasing a third magazine and sending gun back for night sights.

Actually they might be breaking the law as they are buying guns for resale without having a FFL.

One count of conspiracy, 11 counts of Wire Fraud and 10 counts of Money laundering.....these are the issue with the Feds. Did it evolve from a civil issue, yep, but it dovetailed into a federal one too.
 
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