Gaffney man sentenced in federal court in gun selling investigation

Gary Matthew Martin, 25, of Gaffney, is one of four men who have pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to sell handguns.

Martin, along with William Shane Ninan, 26, of Easley; Julius Rozell Barnes, 27, of Columbia; and Sterling Serrone Leeper, 26, entered the guilty pleas in their trial for what U.S. Attorney Johnny Gasser called one of the largest organized gun theft and trafficking rings in U.S. history.

Federal prosecutors said Ninan recruited his three codefendants to steal firearms and sell them illegally beginning in April of 1999.

The handguns were stolen from their workplace at the United Parcel Service hub center in West Columbia, Gasser said in a news release.

Each of the defendants worked with UPS between 1999 and 2000.

Martin and Ninan each were sentenced to five years in prison for their role in the crimes, said Nancy Wicker, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

All four men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in unauthorized firearms dealing and to possess and sell stolen firearms, Wicker said.

According to the news release, a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigation showed Ninan and Barnes participated in the sale of the weapons to people in the Midlands and the Upstate. Weapons were eventually recovered as far away as California, Michigan and New Jersey.

The sentence is the maximum possible for the charges, Wicker said.

Barnes and Leeper will be sentenced at a later date.