Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 1 of 12

AO 91(Rev.08/09) CriminalComplaint

U NITED STATES D ISTRICT C OURT FILED BY Dc .

.

fOrthe
SouthernDistrictOfFlorida rgg 22 ggjj
unitedstatesofAmerica ) CAN
.aGE
xLuAE
s.oNlOB
szL
cm
E
v. ) S.D.OFF:Lk.-w.eB.
) CaseNo. 19-8050-W M
MACKENZIE DELMAS )
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)

CRIM INAL COM PLAINT

1,thecomplainantin thiscase,statethatthefollowing istrueto the bestofmy knowledge and belief.

Onoraboutthedatets)of February7,2019 inthecountyof Palm Beach inthe
Southern Districtof Florida ,thedefendantts)violated:
CodeSection OffenseDescri
ption
Title 18,Uni
ted States Code, Aiding and abetting anotherto make a materialfalse statementto afederal
Sections922(a)(6),(g)(1)and2 firearm sdealerandAttem pted possession ofa firearm by a prohibited person
- convictedfelon.

Thiscriminalcomplaintisbased on thesefacts:

SeeAttached Affidavit

V Continuedontheattachedsheet.

Complainant'
ssignature

Timothv D.Trenschel,SpecialAqent/ATF
Printednameand title

Sworntobeforemeand signed in my presence.

Date: 02/27/2019
Judge'
ssignature

City and state: W estPalm Beach,Florida Hon.W illiam Matthew m an,US M agistrate Judge
Printed nameandtitle
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 2 of 12

A FFID AV IT IN SU PPO R T O F
CR IM INA L C O M PLA INT

Y ouraffiant,Tim othy D .Trenschel,firstbeing duly sw onz,does hereby depose and state

asfollow s'
.

INTRODUCTION

1serve asa SeniorSpecialAgentwith theBureau ofAlcohol,Tobacco,Firearm s

and Explosives(ûûATF'')ofthe United StatesDepartmentofJustice,having been so employed

since 2005. Priorto this 1w asa m etropolitan police officerin Lexington,Kentucky,forover five

years.Duringmytenurewith ATF,Ihavereceived specializedtrainingregardingtheinvestigation

and enforcem ent of Federal Firearm s violations and have conducted scores of investigations

concerning individuals involved in illegalfirearm s activities,including the illegaltrafficking of

firearm s.

This affidavit is m ade in support of a crim inal com plaint and arrest w arrant

charging M ACKENZIE DELM AS with violationsoffederallaw,thatis;

(i) Aidingand abettinganothertomakeamaterialfalsestatementtoafederal

fireanns dealer, in violation of Title 18, U nited States Code, Sections

922(a)(6)and2,
and

(ii) Attemptedpossessionofatirearm byaprohibitedperson-convictedfelon,

inviolationofTitle18,UnitedStatesCode,Section 922(g)(1).
This affidavitis based on m y personalknow ledge,as w ellas upon and interviews

andinform ation received from other1aw enforcem entofficers,and civilianwitnesseswithpersonal

knowledge ofthe events described below . Because this affidavitis being prepared forthe lim ited
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 3 of 12

purpose ofestablishing probable cause,itdoes notcontain everything known to me aboutthis

investigation.

PR O BA BLE CA U SE

On September 22,2018,Canadian Border Service Authorities seized a vehicle

crossing the Canadian border,which contained a ûttrap''compartmentsecreting twenty (20)

firearm sand asilencer.Theindividualdriving thevehiclewasidentified then by1aw enforcem ent

as a Canadian citizen,(çE.E.'' Ofthe twenty (20)firearms seized from the vehicle,atleast

seventeen(17)werepreviouslylocatedintheSouthernDistrictofFloridaandhadbeenpurchased
from afederally licensed fireann dealerlocated within the Southem DistrictofFlorida.

On September 25,2018,your affialzt interviewed an individual who was the

originalpurchaserofone ofthe twenty firearm s seized on the Canadian borderon Septem ber22,

2018.Theindividualadmitted topurchasing the firearm,aTaurusG2C 9m m pistolbearing serial

num ber 7-1.0 59987,on July 22,20l8,on behalf of another person - M A CK EN ZIE D ELM A S

(hereinafter CCDELM AS'').The individualexplained thatin June 2018,he was solicited by

DELM AStoselleight(8)personalpistolsandan assaultrifletoDELM AS. W ithinthreeweeks
later,DELM AS then asked the individualto (tstraw purchase''pistols forhim .l The individual

explained thathe accepted the offerto be a straw purchaserfor DELM AS and thatDELM AS

com pensated him in U nited Statescurrency.

6. The individualalso adm itted during the interview thaton July 1,2018,he straw -

purchased,atthedirectionofDELMAS,six(6)identical.40caliberSmith& W essonpistolsfrom
a Federally-licensed gun dealer for $1,595.00. The individualfurtheradm itted thaton July 18,

1 Forthepurpose ofthisaffidavit,a çlstraw purchase''isa crim inalactin which a firearm isbought

by one person on behalfofanotherperson who isprohibited from possessing atireann and thereforeunable
to legally purchase the tirearm themselves.
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 4 of 12

2018,hestraw-purchased,atthedirectionofDELMAS,two(2)identical9mm Tauruspistolsfrom
aFederally-licensed gun dealerfor$625.29.
ln O ctober 2018,Canadian authorities reported that a fingerprint recovered from

thefireanus seizure on Septem ber22,2018,specifically a thum bprintinside ofa G lock pistolbox,

m atched thatofD ELM A S.

8. A sthe investigation progressed,1leam ed thatDELM AS isa convicted felon and

prohibited from possessing firearm s and am m unition.Specifically,DELM A S w as convicted in

Palm Beach County ofburglary ofa dw elling w hile arm ed and w earing a facem ask,a first-degree

felony offense in the State of Florida, on December 19, 2014, (criminal case number
2012CF012975AM B). DELM AShasalsobeenconvictedoftwograndtheftoffenses,onecount
ofuttering a forgery and onecountoffraudulentuse ofa credit-card,allthird-degree feloniesin

the State of Florida, on January 2015 and M arch 20, 2015 (criminal case numbers
2013C170021I8AXX,20l4CF001171AMB and 2015CF001324AMB).Presentlysthe Florida
D epartm entof Corrections issupervising DELM A S on felony probation related to his ccmviction

foranued burglary.A recordscheck ofpublically available infonnation on Florida D epartm entof

Correctionsw ebsite listsa scheduled term ination date ofJanuary 4,2020.

In furtherance of this investigation, law enforcem ent developed the individual

interviewedon September25,2018,asaconfidentialsource(hereinafter1$CS''). On Janual'y31,

2019,D ELM A S contacted the C S using iM essaging from an A pple products device. ltshould be

noted that the electronic m essage from DELM A S appeared m essage from

tûRudenesszg@ icloud.com.''
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 5 of 12

10. ln the electronic m essage atapproxim ately 2:20 X1X R W *W7

p.m .,asshown herein,DELM AS asked the CS aboutacquiring jp .......oxpo

o aa. j
iMflssage
additionaltireanus using the CS as a straw buyer in exchange Thufsriay E ?2.'
Dk?

YoR'smaxœ -
forU nited States currency.

In a subsequent iM essage,the exact date being

M youwannamal
m eœ hoffofe
unknown,the CS advised D ELM A S thathe kûcalled around got wew- doing* f* I
---
=jk:: ojjjsm jejj
43sfor5 apiece.''Based upon my training,experience and this gie m ol- ce pls
me- x te
investigation,l believe thatthe CS indicated in the electronic
Thclrsdayzl52;:t.f

m essage to DELM A S that he had called around to licensed

firearm dealers and had found Glock M odel435s for $500.00

apiece.DELM AS replied,ûr k,you gotta getdifferentkindsso w - nee rAsAp
e
' @.) @
we don'tgettlagged.''To which the CS replied,(tW ellgetone
* o. o
.
'.:k
.# o ..
ofthose and a Sm ith and som ething else.1'11sortit.''To which

DELM A S replied,Cûok cool.''

Asthe investigation continued,the CS and DELM AS agreed to conducta straw

purchase offirearm son February 7,20l9.A sa lastminute change,DELM AS directed the CS to

take DELM A S'girlfriend,S.H .to the gun shop in hisplace.D ELM A S also advised the CS that

hewould leavehisphonewith S.H .

On February 7,2019,at 12:31 p.

m .,the CS placed a recorded telephone callto

DELM A S'phone.S.H .answ ered and confirm ed thatthe CS w ould bepicking herup atD ELM A S'

and herresidence in D elray Beach,Florida.

Subsequentto the telephone callwith S.H .,the CS arrived to the residence. S.H .

then got into the CS'vehicle and their conversation w as recorded by law enforcem ent using a
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 6 of 12

concealed recording device.TheCS and S.H.then traveled to ShootStraight,a federallylicensed

firearm sdealer located in Palm Beach County Florida.

D uring the car ride to the gun shop,the C S asked S.H .,:C1m ean if the m oney can

stretchdoeshe(DELM AS)wantthreeorisitjusttwo?''To whichS.H.replied,Cû1thinkjusttwo.

He'sjusttrying to spend,like,trying to spend theleastamountofmoney aspossible.''TheCS
then explained to S.H.thathehasshopped around the county forthe bestpricesand hasfound a

good dealon theGlock 43.S.H .replied,itl-

low much?''To which the CS stated,16$500,which isa

steal.''TheCSalsostatedtoS.H.,çsthat'swhatM ac(DELM AS)carries.z That'swhatlcar'

rytoo.
So it'sagood gun.1think we boughttwo ofthe same ones.''S.H .then also replied,tûforsurehe

justsaiddon'tdothat.Hedoesn'twantyoutogettlagged.''
Priorto going into the gun shop on February 7,2019,S.H .w asrecorded telling the

CS,ûsletm e give you this m oney before you go inside ...''S.H .also instructed the C S to tellthe

gundealerCûdon'tsayit'sforme.l'm justtaggingalongwithyou.''S.H.thenprovidedtheCSwith
$1,280.00 in United Statescurrency prior entering the store.S.H.and the CS then wentinside

ShootStraightw here the CS selected tw o firearm s forpurchase.

The tirstfirearm was a G lock,M odel43,9m m handgun with a purchase price of

$449.00-adiscountof$130.00from theoriginalsalesprice.Thesecondfireann wasaSpringfield

Annory,M odelXD,9m m handgun with apurchaseprice of$379.00- adiscountof$80.00 from

theoriginalsalesprice.The totalpricebeing $890.96,including tax and thecostofabackground

check through the Florida Departmentof Law Enforcement (ûûFDLE'') as required with the
disposition ofany firearm by a licensed firearm dealer.The CS completed the sale by paying the

licensed dealer$900.00in United Statescurrency,derived from themoney previouslypaidto the

2 The CS hasadvised law enforcem entthaton m orethan oneoccasion he hasobserved DELM A S

wearing a personalpistol,specifically a Glock 43,9mm pistolin an inside-the-waistband holster.
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 7 of 12

CS by S.H.before walking inside the store.ltshould also be noted that lconfinued thatboth

fireanns w ere notm anufactured in the State of Florida and thus have travelled in interstate or

foreign com m erce.

W ith S.H .alongside him ,the CS com pleted a single A TF Form 4473. Thisfonn is

required to be com pleted during all sales and transfers of firearm s from a licensed dealer to a

transferee.Question 11(a)requiresthepersoncompletingtheform,inthiscasetheCS,toconfirm
thathe w as in factthe actualtransferee/buyerofthe two firearm s purchased from Shoot Straight.

Question 11(a)providesawarningthatyouarenottheactualtransferee/buyerifyouareacquiring
the fireanuson behalfofanotherperson and ifyou are notthe actualtransferee/buyer,the licensee

cannottransferthefirearmstoyou.''Question 11(a)ofthefonn inquestion simply askedtheCS

to answertûyes''Ortûno.''The CS answered ûsyes,''indicating thathew asthe actualtzansferee/buyer,

allwhileknowing thatthe gunswereintended forDELM A S through S.H.

l9. A fter com pletion ofthe sale and the ATF Form 4473,a representative from Shoot

Straight advised the CS that his background check through FDLE was not approved. This

inform ation w as provided to the CS atthe direction of A TF in orderto delay the transfer ofthe

fireanns to the CS and S.H .ln fact,because the CS is notprohibited and possesses a concealed

w eapons penuit,the sale would have otherwise been com pleted if law enforcem ent w ere not

involved. The representative explained to the CS thathe could nottransferthe gunsuntilthe gun

shop receive an approvalnum ber. Atthatpoint,the CS and S.H .departed ShootStraightw ithout

thetwo fireannsorthe m oney thatwasused to pay forthe guns.

Duringthereturncarride,S.H.toldtheCS,ûsbuttheonlyproblem ishe(DELM AS)

neededthegunstomakethetlip.''S.H.also stated,ûtIjustdon'twannago homeand 1haveno
m oney and 1 have no things.''The CS and S.H .continued to talk aboutguns and atone pointthe

6
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 8 of 12

CS asked aboutthe rem ovalof serialnum bers.Specifically,the C S stated,ûûas long as he like is

taking serialnum bersofforsom ething that's,that'sall1give a shitabout.''To which S.H.replied,

ûûY eah.For sure.That's m andatory.A bsolutely m andatory.''S.H .also stated during the recorded

conversation,ûûwithoutadoubthe'sforsuretaking thoseserialnumbersoff W ithoutadoubt.''

DELM A S waspresentatthe TA RG ET RESIDEN CE when the CS and S.H .arrived

back from ShootStraighton February 7,2019. DELM AS then gotinto theCS'vehicleandhad a

conversation withtheCS aboutthefirearm s- whichwasrecordedusing acovertrecordingdevice.

D uring the conversation,the CS told D ELM A S aboutthe denialand m entioned thata restocking

fee w ould be charged if they w anted to gettheir m oney back. DELM A S replied,ûûlëuck that.''

DELM AS then instructed S.H.to pay the CS $100.00. DELM AS also told the CS,ûsbro,l

appreciate you.''

22. D uring the sam e recorded conversation,the CS stated to DELM A S,tûl know you

said youwanted nine'sandforty's.1stuck withjusttwonine's.''DELMASthenreplied,çkyeah,

bro,twonine's. Likelwasjusttryingtospendtheleastmoneypossible.W hereya'allwentto?
Thatstore in W estPalm again?'' The CS then replied,ûlyeah,they gotthe cheapestprices.''To

which DELM AS replied,ûtyeah,withthegun range.''The CS also stated,ûtyep.Yeah,m an,1didn't

w antto getthe two Taurus likebefore.''D ELM A S then replied,1ûIdon'tlike Taurus.N o,they like

theSmith & W essonsandshit.''TheCS also stated,lûdude,justmakesureyou'retaking serials

offand shit.''To which D ELM A S stated,ltnaw ,and you do thatbefore you give 1em to m e.''

23. O n February 15,2019,the CS and DELM A S engage in conversation via FaceTim e

using theirrespective Apple devices.The callwasrecorded in partby the CS and D ELM A S used

thesameCdRudenesszg@ icloud.com''account.ln substance,DELM AS explainedtheurgency of

obtaining thetw o firearm sfrom ShootStraight.D ELM A S also told the CS thathe received m oney
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 9 of 12

from anotherunidentified person fortheguns. DELM AS explained thatheletlûthem ''know that

itw as çûdone,''butthatthis is klw hathappened''and it is lûgoing to take a few days to getdone.''

TheCS then replied,iftkthey''wantto takethat$6250hit''. . to which D ELM A S replied,(1ldon't

thirlk they w antto take that250 hitbecause it's already 800.'' The C S then explained the denial

and hold by ShootStraightand claimed thathe spoketo theownerofShootStraight, and thathe

m ightgeta1lthem oney back. The CS also said to DELM AS thatûdhisnam e''ison them and told

DELM AS to have ûûthem''callme.DuringthecallDELM AS acknowledged priorgunsthatwere

purchased by theCS and DELM A S stressed thatheowed ttthem ''m oney in the past, butthathe

did notw antto go through anything w ith them again. D ELM A S also indicated dcthey''w ere like

fam ily.

8
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 10 of 12

C O N CLU SIO N

Based upon the facts contained in this aftidavit,1 subm itthere isprobable cause to

believe thatM A CK EN ZIE DELM A S hasviolated federallaw ,thatis, aiding and abetting another

to m ake a materialfalse statem entto a federaltirearm sdealer,in violation ofTitle 18, U nited

StatesCode,Section922(a)(6)and2,andattemptedpossessionofafirearm byaprohibitedperson
-
convictedfelon,inviolationofTitle 18,United StatesCode,Section 922(g)(1).

FURTHER YO U R A FFIAN T SA Y ETH N A U G HT.

Tim ot .Trenschel
SpecialA gent,A TF

SW ORN TO D SU BSCRIBED BEFO RE

ME THISA1 Y OFFEBRUARY 2019,
AT W EST PALM BEA CH ,FLO RIDA .

HON .W ILLIA M TTHEW M AN

UN ITED STATES A G ISTRA TE JU DG E
 Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 11 of 12

U N IT ED STA TE S D ISTR IC T C O U R T
SO U TH ER N D IST R IC T O F FL O R ID A

PEN A L TY SH EE T

C A SE N O . 19-8050-+ M

Defendants'N am e: M ACK EN ZIE DELM AS

COUNTS VIO LATION U.S.CODE M AX.PENA LTY

1 FalseStatementtoFFL 18USC jj 10years'

922(a)(6)and2 $250,000fine
SR : 3 years
$100 SpecialAssessm ent

2 AttemptedPossessionofaFirearm 18USC j922(g)(1) 10years'

by aProhibited Person - Convicted $250,000 fine
Felon SR : 3 years
$100 SpecialAssessm ent
Case 9:19-cr-80045-RKA Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/27/2019 Page 12 of 12

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SO U TH ERN D ISTR IC T O F FLO R ID A

N o. 19-8050.W M

UN ITED ST ATE S O F AM ERIC A

VS.

M AC K EN ZIE D ELM A S,

D efendant.
/

C R IM IN AL CO VE R SH E ET

Did thism atteroriginate from a m atterpending in theN orthenzRegion ofthe U nited States
A ttonzey's Office priorto O ctober 14,20037 Y es X No

D id thism atteroriginate from a m atterpending in the CentralRegion ofthe U nited States

Attonzey'sOfficepriorto Septem ber 1,2007? Yes X No

Respectfully subm itted,

A RIAN A FAJA RD O O RSH AN

UN ITED S A TES A TTORN EY

BY :
A DA M .M c l HA EL
A SSISTAN T TES A TTORN EY
Florida BarN o.0772321
TEL (561)820-8711