TACOMA — The last of six men responsible for burglarizing a Forks hardware store and making off with 16 guns in June 2005 has been sentenced after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court.
Although the men who stole from the Forks True Value Hardware and Lumber store have been accounted for, all of the stolen guns have not.
Eleven of the firearms are still missing, Forks Police Chief Mike Powell said. They ranged from .22-caliber to 9 mm.
“If they are still in the area, it’s hard to say,” he said.
“Guns move so quickly.”
The six men conspired to break into the hardware store, and they possessed a number of the guns and scratched off the weapons’ serial numbers.
They planned to trade or sell the handguns for methamphetamine and cash, Powell said.
Case still open
Although the investigating officer has exhausted all the leads, officers will still be keeping their ears open.
“In all reality, it’s still open because of the guns,” he said.
The complexity of solving the case came from the deluge of tips that came in after the burglary, Powell said.
“Everybody thought they knew something,” he said.
Detective Sgt. JoElle Munger investigated the case and said that over the next five to 10 years the guns will likely surface — but most of them will not be in the Forks area.
“It was definitely nice to see all six people arrested, convicted of something and serving time,” she said.
The six are:
* Charles Clay Winans, 43 of Forks, who was sentenced on July 6 to eight months in prison and one year of supervised release for his role.
It was at Winans’ home that the conspirators attempted to grind serial numbers off the handguns.
Investigators linked Winans to the conspiracy by metal shavings from the handguns found in a vacuum cleaner in his home, court documents say.
He pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact.
* Walter Boyd McIlwain, 26, of Forks, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
It was McIlwain that broke the window and went into the store to steal the 16 guns and some knives, a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office said. He plead guilty to theft of firearms from a federal licensee.
The store’s owner estimated the value of the guns at about $3,000.
* Alejandro Barragan, 27, of Forks, who served as lookout for the burglary and was rewarded with two guns.
He received 17 months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of stolen firearms.
* Richard Dennis Miller 21, of Forks, who knew about the burglary and was given some of the firearms, which he sold.
He received two years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of stolen firearms.
* Brandon Lee Penn, 21, of Forks, who was sentenced to two years in prison.
He helped plan the burglary and received six of the stolen guns. He plead guilty to possession of stolen firearms.
* Jose Mendoza, 22, of Forks and Neah Bay, who was arrested on an unrelated warrant and found with one of the stolen guns in his possession.
He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to possession of stolen firearms.
