Colorado
Colorado man pleads guilty in smuggling case
Posted: Jan 4, 2011 4:47 PM by Greg Boyce
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A Colorado man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and a weapons charge in a case alleging a Navy SEAL smuggled and sold machine guns and other weapons from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The plea Tuesday by 35-year-old Richard Paul as part of a deal leaves only the active-duty SEAL, 33-year-old Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Nicholas Bickle, to stand trial in April. Bickle lives in San Diego. He has pleaded not guilty to federal weapon and conspiracy charges that could get him decades in prison.
Paul is from Durango, Colo. He acknowledged conspiring with Bickle in the black market sale of untraceable assault weapons to an undercover federal agent for shipment to Mexico.
Paul is scheduled to be sentenced April 15. Co-defendants Andrew Kaufman and Omar Aguirre pleaded guilty last month.
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