Ex-U.S. Customs officer sentenced for illicit gun sales

Richard Bernholz, 59, a former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, will serve no jail time for buying and selling weapons at gun shows for 10 years without a federal firearms license.

The sentence for Bernholz, supported by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles, was handed down Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha during a hearing in federal court in Brattleboro.

"I do not see the need for any significant jail time," Murtha told Bernholz, noting Bernholz's cooperation with federal investigators. "I think you've learned your lesson."

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Murtha also ruled that Bernholz, who lives in Franklin, would have to serve no time on supervised release and pay no fine for failing to maintain proper gun sales records and filing false tax returns.

Bernholz, according to his attorney Paul Volk, has paid nearly $11,000 in overdue state and federal taxes connected with income from the gun sales. Bernholz declined to offer a statement at Thursday's hearing, telling Murtha he wished to "leave the case in your good hands."

Bernholz had pleaded guilty to the two felonies last year as part of a plea agreement that required him to provide evidence against a second person, ex-cop and former state Medical Practice Board investigator Philip Ciotti of St. Johnsbury.

"Good luck to you," Murtha told Bernholz, who retired from the federal government last year, before ending the hearing.

The hearing was shown on a video relay at U.S. District Court in Burlington. Cowles was not in the Brattleboro courtroom and participated via the video feed from Burlington.

According to court filings, Bernholz and Ciotti began attending gun shows together in 2000. Over the next 10 years, Bernholz bought a large number of guns at the gun shows, also marketing other people's firearms on a consignment basis.

In at least one year, the income from his gun sales netted Bernholz $10,000, he later told authorities. The income was not included in his tax returns and he conducted the sales without having a federal firearms license, despite being warned by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in 2006 that he needed to get one.

"Instead, he and Ciotti developed a system by which some of Bernholz's sales were recorded ... as if they had been sold by Ciotti's federal firearms license," the government's sentencing memorandum stated.

"Additionally, Ciotti and Bernholz transacted numerous guns between themselves, including post-dating and postponing paperwork ... so that, on paper, it would not appear that Ciotti had sold Bernholz multiple handguns in a single transaction," the memorandum continued.

According to a court affidavit filed by a federal ATF agent, one of Bernholz's guns was used in a shooting in Brockton, Mass.

Three shots were fired from a .25-caliber Beretta 950BS at Defto's Liquor Store on Main Street, but nobody was injured during the Sept. 29, 2006, incident, according to a Brockton police report obtained by the Burlington Free Press.

Two men subsequently were charged with assault with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, carrying an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

The gun used in the shooting had been obtained by Bernholz in 2004, the affidavit stated. Bernholz told the ATF he had traded the firearm with Ciotti but was unable to supply any records reflecting the ownership transfer.

The homes of Bernholz and Ciotti were raided by ATF agents in 2011. The agents impounded 155 guns found at Bernholz's home and seized 550 from Ciotti's home.

Ciotti pleaded guilty in December to charges of tax fraud and failing to maintain proper gun sales records. In May, Ciotti received a no-prison sentence and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. Ciotti retired from his state job in December.

Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or shemingway@freepressmedia.com. Follow Sam on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SamuelHemingway.