Prosecutors: Woman tried to buy felon a gun
Federal prosecutors say a Middleton woman tried to buy a gun for a convicted felon.
An indictment, returned Wednesday in federal court in Madison, charges Shawna Tantillo, 34, with straw purchasing a firearm for a felon, conspiring to violate the law prohibiting felons from possessing firearms and lying on a firearms purchase form.
Federal prosecutors allege someone, identified in court papers only as “Person 1,” asked Tantillo to buy a firearm on Nov. 28. They believe she was aware Person 1 was a felon.
Tantillo bought a .380 handgun from a gun store in Cross Plains on Dec. 7. Prosecutors allege in court documents Tantillo falsely declared on the purchase form she was the actual transferee or buyer.
She picked up the firearm from the gun store the next day and handed it to the felon, who gave Tantillo $150, federal prosecutors said in a written statement Wednesday.
The straw purchase charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, if she’s convicted. The conspiracy and false statement charges each carry maximum penalties of five years in prison.
“Stopping straw buyers and preventing illegal firearms trafficking is our first line of defense against gun violence,” said Timothy M. O’Shea, the U.S. attorney for Wisconsin’s Western District. “It is illegal to purchase a firearm posing as the real buyer for someone else. If a friend or relative asks you to lie to a firearms retailer to try to buy a gun for them, don’t do it.”
The charges against Tantillo were the result of an investigation conducted by the Middleton and Fitchburg police departments and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.