Nashville gun maker Sabre charged with illegal arms trafficking

A federal grand jury charged Nashville-based gun manufacturer Sabre Defence Industries and five company officers with illegal international arms trafficking.

Sabre's largest customer was the U.S. military until the company shuttered operations late last year.

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In July 2004, Savage displayed his frustration with United States regulators in an e-mail to Hill and Shearon cited in the indictment: "This Iraq situation has companies banging on our door for M16s because we are the only supplier outside the U.S. since the State Department has a lump of granite up their asses with exporting machine guns to anywhere. … I'm not prepared to have bureaucrats in another country tell me how to run my business in the UK, which is incidentally their only reliable ally on the planet."

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The indictment alleges that the defendants concealed their activities by falsifying shipping records and labels and concealing gun components in false bottoms of boxes. The indictment alleges that Sabre smuggled regulated firearms components overseas without required licenses or authorizations since at least 2003, shortly after Savage acquired the U.S. company.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110209/NEWS03/102090366/Nashville-gun-maker-Sabre-charged-illegal-arms-trafficking

While local federal prosecutors await the extradition of British arms dealer Guy Savage, a fight over his Nashville-based company's assets is already unfolding in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

An Alabama company stands ready to purchase Sabre Defence Industries for $2.3 million and resume operations. Sabre's Allied Drive plant employed about 100 people before the company was waylaid by troubles beginning last year that culminated in a 21-count international arms trafficking indictment handed down by a federal grand jury earlier this month against the company, owner and CEO Savage and four Nashville area executives.

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In addition to illegal international arms trafficking, Savage and Sabre's Nashville area executives — Charles Shearon, Elmer Hill, Michael Curlett and Arnold See Jr. — also face charges of conspiracy, making false statements, smuggling, wire fraud and mail fraud. They and the company are accused of illegally importing and exporting regulated gun components to and from the United States. The indictment alleges that Savage directed the activity from the United Kingdom, where he owns a gun manufacturer of the same name.

Sabre's largest customer was the U.S. military until the company shuttered operations later last year. The U.S. government stopped accepting shipments from Sabre in July 2010. The indictment states that Sabre's contracts with the Department of Defense totaled between $74 million and $120 million.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110223/NEWS03/102230353/Fight-brews-over-assets-Nashville-gun-maker-Sabre?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE