A former Walworth County police chief allegedly tried to help an ammunition and firearms dealer import illegal armor-piercing rounds into the U.S. in return for money for squad cars and supplies for his police department.
Former town of Linn Police Chief James Bushey is named in a federal plea agreement filed July 2 in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin. The plea agreement alleges that Darin Dowd, the operator of California-based United Forces Enterprises, enlisted Bushey’s help to get “armor piercing incendiary” from Bosnia into the United States by falsely stating on an application that the rounds were for the small police department.
Bushey has not been criminally charged. But his involvement in the purchase scheme is outlined in Dowd’s plea agreement and in warrant documents associated with the case.
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According to the plea agreement, an application was submitted from United Forces Enterprises, a federal firearms licensee, in June 2021 to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to import 489,000 rounds of “7.62x54mm Armor-Piercing Incendiary” ammunition.
“This type of ammunition may not be imported into the United States unless certain exceptions apply,” the plea agreement states. “One such exception applies if the ammunition is to be used by an American police department.”
The application submitted by United Forces Enterprises said the ammunition was intended for “Law Enforcement Sales” and a fake purchase order with the application had Linn Police Department letterhead and was signed by Bushey, who was the police chief at that time.
The plea agreement states the purchase order on the application “was a material misrepresentation” and was intended to “mislead” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
“TLPD [Town of Linn Police Department] is a small police department,” the plea agreement said. “It had no intention to purchase the API [armor-piercing incendiary] ammunition, had no funds to purchase the ammunition, and had no legitimate use for that ammunition.”
A 2023 annual report said the police department had eight police officers. Linn has a population of about 2,600.
The plea agreement said Dowd was introduced to Bushey by a “middleman.” A search warrant said that middleman was one of Bushey’s former roommates.
Dowd, Bushey and two others who were not named in the plea agreement agreed that Bushey would be “compensated with funds to purchase squad cars and other supplies if Bushey signed a fake purchase order,” according to the plea agreement.
The search warrant said Bushey told the Linn Town Board during a meeting that United Forces Enterprises had planned to donate the ammunition to the police department. The town board approved the deal, according to the warrant.
However, the warrant states Bushey did not tell the town board that he would receive “cash payments” for submitting the fake purchase order.
“Chief Bushey’s misrepresentation that his Police Department was purchasing the ammunition was essential to UFE [United Forces Enterprises] being able to import the ammunition,” the plea agreement states.
Dowd had planned to sell the illegally imported ammunition to other buyers, but the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were able to stop the importation before it happened, according to the plea agreement.
The agreement said Dowd agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. He faces up to five years in prison.
The agreement says Dowd, “further agrees to fully and completely cooperate with the government in its investigation of this and related matters, and to testify truthfully and completely before the grand jury and at any subsequent trials or proceedings, if asked to do so.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin didn’t respond to a reporter’s request for comment on the case. Bushey did not return a phone call from a reporter Wednesday.
Current Linn Police Chief Jon Albrecht has been with the department since March 14, 2022, according to a social media post from the department. In an email, he said he was unable to comment on the investigation.
“The Town of Linn has been aware of an on-going federal investigative process referencing a former employee and has fully cooperated with law enforcement authorities throughout,” a statement from the town of Linn said.
“As confirmed by federal representatives, the Town of Linn and its current administration are not subjects of any prosecutorial inquiry,” the statement added.
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