Macon gun dealer who sold over a dozen firearms to an informant pleads guilty
The man who sold over 13 guns to an undercover informant admitted to illegally selling firearms on Wednesday morning.
John Cato pleaded guilty in front of Judge Marc Treadwell Wednesday to trafficking firearms, after an investigation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that started in April. Cato was caught in a sting, federal officals say.
He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. His sentencing date had not been scheduled as of Thursday.
In a superseding indictment, he was charged alongside Brandon Dejuan Thorpe, who is charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
ATF directed informant to buy guns for over $13,000
A confidential informant notified agents that Cato was selling him guns, despite the confidential informant being a felon. When the informant suggested to the ATF agents that they could buy guns from Cato at their direction, they agreed, according to court records.
The ATF monitored the informant’s interactions with Cato via body transmitter and audio and video records during the purchases, court records show. The purchases occurred in the parking lot of a restaurant in Macon.
In the first purchase that occurred on April 23, the informant bought three guns and methamphetamine, court records say. The informant met with their friend, who then took them to Cato’s car, where the guns were located. One of the guns was a Glock pistol that had a switch on it. Though Cato was hesitant, he sold it anyway. The Glock, as well as two Taurus pistols, were turned over to law enforcement, court records show. All of the guns cost $1,850.
The informant met with Cato again on May 20, where they bought seven firearms and a drum magazine for $5,350.
The second purchase was made on June 26, when the ATF agent accompanied the informant during the purchase. Cato was nervous about bringing in another person during the deal and asked if the agent was a law enforcement officer. The informant reassured Cato that they were a convicted felon and didn’t want to go to jail, according to court records. Thorpe, Cato’s co-defendant, was also present during the transaction.
Cato showed another Glock to the undercover agent and how he could make it into an automatic gun using the switch. The agent opened the trunk of his car, and Cato told the informant to bring a blanket and a duffel bag with guns from his vehicle and place them in the trunk of the agent’s car, according to court records.
The agent bought a total of 11 guns and a Glock pistol with three different fully automatic settings for $13,700 in this transaction, court records show.
The Georgia State Patrol pulled Thorpe and Cato over after the transaction on June 16. The car tag wasn’t pulling up information in their database, but once it did, they found it wasn’t insured. They also found out Thorpe had an active warrant from another county and was a convicted felon. As a result, they arrested him, according to court records.
Thorpe had a large amount of cash on Thorpe’s person, as well as multiple firearm accessories. GSP removed them from Thorpe and gave them to Cato, court records show.
Cato was made to believe that the informant would meet him on July 9 to buy more guns, but was surrounded by ATF agents and other law enforcement instead. He exited his car and ran away, throwing his phone on the pavement in hopes of destroying the evidence. However, Cato was caught and then arrested, court records show.
In his car, they found four firearms and 192 ounces of Promethazine, according to federal prosecutors in court records.
