Winnemucca Man Sentenced to Prison for Firearms Theft Conspiracy
RENO, Nev. — A Winnemucca man who admitted to his role in a conspiracy to steal multiple firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) was sentenced today to three years and four months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Travis Klyn (41) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to steal, take, or carry away firearms from the premises of an FFL in September 2021. In addition to the prison term, Chief U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du ordered Klyn to pay $15,309.43 in restitution.
According to court documents, on February 19, 2020, Klyn, co-defendant George Wyatt Elms, and one other individual broke into a hardware store in Winnemucca to steal firearms. They removed a panel in the roof, dropped down approximately ten feet onto a nearby staircase, and then broke through the store’s door. Once inside, Elms used a pickaxe to break into a gun case, from which he and another individual stole 25 firearms. Klyn ran out of the store before the theft of the firearms. Before carrying out the robbery, they had intentionally set a brush fire in a nearby field to divert law enforcement away from the store.
Co-defendant Elms pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of theft of firearms from the premises of an FFL. He was sentenced to six years in prison on March 4, 2022.
Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou for the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Patrick Gorman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) made the announcement.
This case was investigated by the ATF and Winnemucca Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Rachow and Andolyn Johnson prosecuted the case.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. For more information about PSN, visit www.justice.gov/usao-nv.
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