James Sawyer, the police chief and only officer in Ray, N.D., spent his days waiting to catch the occasional driver going over the 25 mph speed limit where the highway hits this farm town of 700 residents.
Outside of helping nearby deputies with a rare car chase or the sporadic break-in, there was little for him to do, town officials recall.
Until one day several years ago, when Sawyer got a strange request, according to court documents.
A man named Larry Vickers, who held popular firearms-tactics training sessions for law enforcement, needed a favor: Could Sawyer help him import a machine gun into the country?
All he had to do was write a letter that would be submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives saying his one-man department was interested in buying the highly restricted weapon.
Persons:
James Sawyer, Sawyer, Larry Vickers
Organizations:
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives
Locations:
Ray