COUNTYWIDE : Gates Allegations Ruled Unfounded
The county district attorney’s office has ruled unfounded allegations that Sheriff Brad Gates improperly granted concealed-weapons permits to people who did not live in the county.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace A. Wade said this week that no evidence has turned up showing that Gates knew that any licensed recipient was a non-resident.
A private investigator, Preston Guillory, alleged in letters to the district attorney’s office that 12 permit holders misrepresented their residency on license applications. Under state law, Gates may issue permits only to residents of the county.
Guillory won a $190,000 civil verdict against Gates in March, based on his allegations that the sheriff and his deputies had harassed him.
Wade said information supplied by Guillory was either insufficient or the statute of limitations had expired.
Any violation of licensing rules would be a misdemeanor. Wade pointed out that the law does not describe as a criminal offense the receipt of a permit by a non-resident.
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