FEDS SEARCH HOME OF LAWYER TIED TO GARMO CASE
Vikas Bajaj identified in documents as purchaser of 3 guns
Federal agents served an early-morning search warrant last week on the home of well-known San Diego criminal defense lawyer Vikas Bajaj, who has been identified in court documents as the purchaser of three firearms from a former sheriff ’s captain who pleaded guilty to illegal gun sales in September.
Agents from the federal
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI carried out the search of the 4,000-square foot home in Bay Park on Oct. 14.
Three neighbors in the normally quiet street awakened around 6:30 a.m. and saw a squad of at least a dozen armed ATF agents in full tactical gear at the home. At least one FBI agent was there, too.
The agents remained at the home until just about 10:30 a.m., after carrying out bags and boxes of materials, according to the neighbors who witnessed the search. They spoke to the San Diego Union-Tribune on condition they would not be identified.
Contacted on Tuesday at his downtown law office, Bajaj declined to comment.
Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the ATF in Los Angeles, said Wednesday that the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations.
It is unclear if the search was connected to the case of former San Diego Sheriff ’s Capt. Marco Garmo. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 15 to a charge of selling firearms without a federal license. He was one of five people, including local jeweler Leo Hamel, charged in the case.
The lengthy indictment included an allegation that on Oct. 28, 2016, Garmo and a second defendant Giovanni Tilotta sold three firearms — an AR-15 style rifle, a Glock handgun, and a Smith & Wesson handgun — to an individual identified as “San Diego attorney V.B.”
A motion to dismiss one of the charges against Tilotta filed on Sept. 25 identified Bajaj as the attorney who purchased the weapons, which were sold inside Garmo’s office at the sheriff ’s Rancho San Diego substation.
Bajaj has not been charged in the Garmo case.
In addition to his downtown legal practice Bajaj is a frequent legal commentator on local news channels, regularly appearing on KUSI news programs.
Garmo was a 27-year veteran of the county Sheriff ’s Department who retired in September 2019, shortly before the indictment was unsealed. He pleaded guilty to a single charge of selling “off roster” firearms — guns that are not available to the general public but that law enforcement officers are able to acquire and resell.
The law allows only the resale of a few guns annually. Federal prosecutors said
Garmo had exploited the loophole and was running a gun-selling business, acquiring some 144 guns from 2013 through 2019 and reselling 93 of them.
His guilty plea also described other forms of corruption, such as tipping off his cousin to a search of a marijuana dispensary that the cousin was a partner in. The plea also said he attempted to set up a kickback scheme regarding a second dispensary, but that plan fell through.
Garmo is set to be sentenced in December.