ATF official: Federal prosecutors turning a blind eye to straw purchasers, again

By Lee Williams

Phoenix, Arizona – January 25, 2011: Handguns, AKs and .50 caliber rifles, on display during an announcement about arrests and weapons seizures made during Operation Fast & Furious. ({Photo from licenses Shutterstock account.)by Lee WilliamsThe U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona is not prosecuting straw-purchase arrests with speed and vigor, which can allow weapons purchased illegally in the United States to “walk” across the border into Mexico, according to a retired ATF deputy assistant director who blew the whistle the first time this happened, in what became known as ATF’s “Operation Fast & Furious” scandal.Peter J. Forcelli said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix, which is overseen by U.S. Attorney Gary M. Restaino, suffers from a “culture of laziness and ineptness and a fear of getting beaten in court.”Forcelli served at the Phoenix ATF Office from 2007 to 2011 before working his way up to a series of senior positions. He said Restaino’s office has long had a reputation for being “among the worst U.S. Attorney’s offices to deal with in the country.” Today, he said, little has changed.“The U.S. Attorney is turning a blind eye to straw purchases, which is fueling what’s going on in Mexico,” Forcelli said. “The prosecutors

Source: The Gun Writer