Criminal Defense Lawyers

I Bought Guns for Someone Who Paid Me Cash – What Happens Now

You did someone a favor. They gave you cash. You bought a gun. You handed it over. Now federal agents are asking questions about a firearm transaction you barely remember, and you’re starting to understand that the “favor” you did might be a federal felony carrying up to 15 years in prison. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s the law.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. We created this page because people who made what they thought was a simple transaction – helping someone buy a gun – are now facing federal criminal charges that can destroy their lives. The person who paid you cash probably isn’t being charged. You are. Because you’re the one who signed the federal form. You’re the one who answered the question. And that answer is now evidence.

Here’s the reality nobody explains until it’s too late. The crime isn’t buying a gun for someone else. The crime is lying on ATF Form 4473 when you checked “yes” on Question 21.a – “Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s)?” If you bought that gun for someone who paid you cash, you weren’t the actual buyer. You were the front. And that single false answer on a federal form is what makes this a felony. The gun itself is almost secondary.

What Actually Makes It a “Straw Purchase”

A straw purchase happens when you buy a firearm for someone else while telling the dealer you’re buying it for yourself. The legal definition is simple. The implications are devastating.

Heres the paradox that catches everyone off guard. Even if BOTH people can legally own guns, buying for someone else is still a federal crime. The Supreme Court settled this in Abramski v. United States. Bruce Abramski was a former police officer. His uncle could legally own firearms. Abramski bought a Glock 19 for his uncle using a police discount. Both of them were lawful gun owners. And Abramski went to federal court anyway – all the way to the Supreme Court – and lost.

The crime isnt helping a prohibited person get a gun. Thats what most people assume. They think straw purchases only apply when your buying for a felon or someone whos been convicted of domestic violence. Thats wrong. The crime is lying on Form 4473. Whether the other person can legally own guns is completly irrelevant to your criminal liability.

This is the inversion most people dont understand until there sitting across from a federal prosecutor. You thought you were doing someone a favor. You thought since they could legally own the gun anyway, what difference did it make who walked into the store? The difference is that you checked a box on a federal form, and your answer was false. Thats the felony. Not the gun. Not the transfer. The lie.

The Form 4473 Trap Nobody Explains

Every firearm purchase from a licensed dealer requires ATF Form 4473. Question 21.a asks: “Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form?” Your handwritten answer to that question becomes federal evidence.

Heres how the trap works. The form instructions actualy explain what “actual buyer” means. If your buying a gift for someone, you ARE the actual buyer – because gifts are a recognized exception. But the moment money changes hands, the gift exception dissapears. If someone gave you cash to buy that gun, you were never the actual buyer. You were a straw purchaser. And your “yes” answer was a false statement on a federal form.

The Abramski case makes this perfectly clear. Bruce Abramski’s uncle wrote him a check for $400 with “Glock 19 handgun” in the memo line. That memo line became federal evidence. It proved the transaction wasnt a gift. Money changed hands. The “gift” exception didnt apply. And a former police officer buying a gun for another legal gun owner became a federal criminal.

Think about what that means for you. If someone handed you cash, if someone Venmo’d you money, if theres any record anywhere of payment for that firearm – you didnt receive a gift and you didnt give a gift. You completed a financial transaction that required a false statement on a federal form to accomplish.

Todd Spodek tells clients the same thing about Form 4473. That single piece of paper is designed to document exactly who is getting the gun and why. When you answer Question 21.a incorrectly – wheather through ignorance or intention – you create a federal record of a false statement. That record dosent go away. It exists forever. And when that gun traces back to a crime scene three years later, your false answer is sitting in an ATF file waiting to be used against you.

How ATF Catches Straw Purchasers

You probly think you got away with it. The transaction happened months or years ago. Nobody asked questions. The gun is gone. Your life moved on. Heres the uncomfortable truth: ATF investigations take 3-18 months before agents ever make contact. By the time they knock on your door, the case is largely built.

Heres how the system works. When a gun shows up at a crime scene, police run the serial number through ATF’s eTrace system. That trace goes back through every documented transaction – from the current possessor to the person before them, eventually to the dealer, and finaly to the original purchaser. Thats you. Your name. Your Form 4473. Your signature.

But the investigation dosent always start with a crime gun. ATF has pattern analysis software that flags certain buying behaviors automaticaly. Buy 2 or more handguns within 5 consecutive business days? The dealer files a Multiple Purchase Report with ATF. Buy 10 or more firearms in 30 days? Your guaranteed to trigger an investigation. Your buying patterns are being analyzed before any crime happens.

And heres the hidden connection most people miss. 54% of crime guns recovered by police were purchased within three years of showing up at the crime scene. ATF knows that short “time-to-crime” periods often indicate straw purchasing or trafficking. If you bought a gun and sold it quickly, that pattern raises flags. If multiple guns trace back to you with short time-to-crime periods, ATF isnt seeing isolated transactions. There seeing a trafficking pattern.

The eTrace system connects over 8,700 law enforcement agencies nationwide. When your name comes up on a trace, that information dosent stay in one office. A detective in Miami can see traces that originated in Seattle. Every agency that uses the system can see your name connected to crime guns.

The “Gift” Exception That Isn’t What You Think

There IS a legal way to buy a gun and give it to someone else. Its called a bona fide gift. And its narrower then you think.

Heres the paradox. You can buy 10 guns and give them ALL away as gifts – completly legal. But accept $50 for even one of them, and you’ve committed a federal felony. The distinction between “legal gift” and “federal crime” is wheather money changed hands.

A bona fide gift means exactly that. You bought the firearm with your own money, with no expectation of repayment, and you gave it to someone who can legally possess firearms. Birthday present for your spouse? Legal. Christmas gift for your adult child? Legal. Gun for your uncle who handed you $400 in cash? Federal felony.

And it dosent matter if you call it a gift. It dosent matter if you genuinly believed it was fine. If the person gave you money – cash, check, Venmo, Zelle, Bitcoin, whatever – the transaction wasnt a gift. It was a purchase made with a false statement. The gift exception requires that NO money changes hands. None.

This is were people get destroyed. Your cousin asks you to pick up a gun for him becuase hes busy. He hands you $600. You figure its his money, his gun, you were just helping out. But legally, YOU were the buyer at the store. YOU signed the form saying you were the actual purchaser. And thats false. The legal title passed from the dealer to YOU, then from YOU to your cousin. That second transfer – the one that involved money – makes the first transfer fraudulent.

What You’re Actually Facing – Federal Penalties

Federal straw purchase charges arent slaps on the wrist. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 increased penalties dramaticaly. Heres what your looking at.

Basic straw purchase conviction: up to 15 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Not state prison. Federal prison. No parole in the federal system. You serve 85% of your sentence minimum.

But it gets worse. If the firearm you purchased was used in a felony, an act of terrorism, or a drug trafficking crime, the penalty jumps to 25 years. You didnt pull the trigger. You didnt commit the crime. But you bought the gun. And the law holds you responsible for what happened with it.

Heres the uncomfortable truth about your odds. About 50,000 straw purchases happen every year. ATF only prosecutes around 1,500 to 2,000 cases annually. So most people dont get caught. But when ATF DOES decide to prosecute you, the federal conviction rate exceeds 90%. They dont bring cases they arent certain to win. If your being charged, they’ve already built a case strong enough to convict you.

And the penalties dont end when you leave prison. A federal felony conviction means you lose your gun rights forever. You cant vote in most states. Employment becomes nearly impossible with a federal felony on your record. Civil asset forfeiture means the government can seize your car, your bank accounts, even your house if they can connect it to the firearms trafficking. After prison, you’ll spend 3-5 years on supervised release – federal probation with strict conditions.

Think about what that means practicaly. Your trying to rebuild your life after federal prison, but every job application asks about felony convictions. Your trying to rent an apartment, but landlords run background checks. Your trying to move forward, but the straw purchase conviction follows you everywhere. And if you violate the terms of your supervised release – even something minor like missing an appointment with your probation officer – you go back to prison. The consequences of that one transaction, that one favor, that one check mark on a federal form, ripple through the rest of your life.

When the Gun Shows Up at a Crime Scene

The gun you bought for cash three years ago just showed up at a murder scene. Heres the consequence cascade that follows.

Police recover the gun and submit the serial number to ATF’s National Tracing Center. Within days, the trace identifies you as the original retail purchaser. ATF pulls your Form 4473 from the dealer’s records – or from ATF’s files if the dealer went out of business. Your signature is right there. Your “yes” answer to Question 21.a is documented.

Now ATF starts investigating. They interview the person who had the gun at the crime scene. They work backwards through every person who possessed it. Eventually they reach the person you sold to. That person says you bought the gun for them. Maybe they have Venmo records. Maybe they have text messages. Maybe they just tell the truth becuase there trying to cooperate.

And now ATF has evidence that your “yes” answer was false. You werent the actual buyer. You were the straw. The federal crime isnt what happened at the murder scene. The federal crime happened years earlier when you signed that form.

Heres what really matters. The person who committed the crime with that gun might be charged with murder. The person you sold to might face charges too. But YOU – the person who did a “favor” for someone years ago – are being charged with a federal felony that carries 15 years. And if the gun was used in certain crimes, 25 years. You didnt know this would happen. That dosent matter legally.

And heres the part that makes people sick to there stomachs. The gun dosent even have to be used in a crime for you to get caught. Sometimes ATF traces guns that were simply recovered – found in a car during a traffic stop, confiscated during a domestic dispute, seized in a raid for something completly unrelated. That trace still leads back to you. That trace still pulls your Form 4473. That trace still shows you checked “yes” when the answer was “no.” The crime you committed happened at the gun store counter. Everything after that just determines when ATF finds out about it.

Why ATF Charges YOU Instead of Them

Clients ask Todd Spodek this question constantly. Why am I being charged when the other person is the one who wanted the gun? Why am I facing prison when I didnt do anything with that firearm after I handed it over?

Heres the uncomfortable truth. You’re the one who signed the federal form. The person who gave you cash didnt make any false statements – they werent at the gun store. They didnt fill out paperwork. You did. And your signature on that Form 4473 is what makes this your crime.

The “favor” you did for someone who paid you cash created a federal felony for YOU, not them. This is the inversion that destroys peoples lives. You thought you were helping. You thought since they could legally own the gun anyway, what was the harm? The harm is that federal law requires YOU to be the actual buyer when YOU fill out the form. When your not, and you say you are, that false statement is your crime.

And heres another uncomfortable reality. The person who paid you might be cooperating with ATF right now. They might be the reason agents showed up at your door. When people get caught with guns connected to crimes, there first instinct is to explain were the gun came from. That explanation leads directly to you.

Spodek Law Group has seen this pattern repeatedly. The straw purchaser – the person who did someone a “favor” – faces federal charges while the person who actually wanted the gun walks away with lesser consequences or no charges at all. Its not fair. But its how the system works. You made the false statement. You created the federal evidence. You’re the one whos accountable.

Contact a Federal Defense Attorney Immediately

Maybe ATF just contacted you. Maybe there asking to schedule an interview. Maybe agents already showed up at your door and your trying to figure out what to say. Whatever brought you here, the path forward is the same.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196 before you talk to anyone. Federal straw purchase charges are serious. The investigation thats brought agents to your door has probly been running for months. They know more then you think. And anything you say – even trying to explain yourself – can become evidence.

Heres what you need to understand about where you are right now. By the time ATF makes contact, the evidence gathering phase is largely complete. There not trying to figure out what happened. There building a case for prosecution. The questions they ask are designed to get you on record with statements that can be used against you. The “friendly” conversation is a federal interview with serious consequences.

Todd Spodek has defended clients against federal firearms charges for years. We understand how ATF builds straw purchase cases. We know what evidence they rely on and were there case might be weak. The gift exception, lack of intent, constitutional violations during investigation – there are defenses. But those defenses require an attorney who understands federal firearms law and can evaluate your specific situation.

Call us at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The mistake of talking to federal agents without counsel isnt.

You bought a gun for someone who paid you cash. That transaction might have happened years ago. But the federal consequences are happening right now. How you respond in the next 48 hours determines wheather this becomes a negotiated resolution or a federal prosecution that sends you to prison.

Dont talk to ATF without a lawyer. Dont try to explain your way out of this. Call Spodek Law Group first. 212-300-5196. Let us evaluate your situation before you make it worse.

The straw purchase charge your facing exists becuase federal law is designed to create accountability at every step of firearm transfers. The dealer is accountable for running background checks. You’re accountable for telling the truth on Form 4473. The recipient is accountable for who they are and what they do with the gun. When you bought that gun for someone who paid you cash, you broke your link in that chain. And now the federal government is holding you accountable.

Thats the system. Thats how it works. And the only way to navigate it is with an attorney who understands federal firearms law, who has seen these cases, and who knows how to protect your interests when agents come asking questions. Spodek Law Group is that firm. Call 212-300-5196 now.