Authorities Say 1,000 Handguns Sold From Park : Crime: Two men operating out of a van in Lincoln Park are believed to have sold many of the weapons to street gang members.

Two men operating out of a van in Lincoln Park are believed to have sold more than 1,000 handguns to street gang members and others over an eight-month period last year and authorities have linked dozens of the weapons to crimes ranging from homicide to robbery in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The guns, most of them small, easily concealable weapons such as .22-caliber “Saturday night specials,” were sold individually and by the case. Orders were taken from the back of a green-and-white van that became a fixture to park-goers east of downtown Los Angeles.

The illegal gun sales came to light when a federal undercover agent, posing as an ex-con who wanted a gun, purchased 19 weapons, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

“They sold a thousand guns last year, many of them to gang members,” said Rod Watson, a supervisor for the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Los Angeles. “If you bought in volume, you got a better deal, and they didn’t care about age (of the purchaser) or paperwork. It was first come, first served.”

Mario Miranda, 37, of Highland Park and Gustavo Salazar, 35, of Los Angeles were arrested Aug. 9 as they prepared to sell two cases of .380-caliber handguns--36 guns per case--to the undercover agent, Watson said.

According to Watson, Miranda would show up at the park and take orders from gang members and others from his van. He would then contact Salazar, who used a fraudulent gun dealer’s license to buy the weapons from legitimate dealers in North Hollywood and Santa Ana, Watson added.

A subsequent investigation showed that 89 of the 1,165 guns Salazar purchased between January and August have turned up either at crime scenes or as a result of search warrants.

“These guns were sold in a gang-infested park and they showed up in gang-related shootings,” ATF spokeswoman April Freud said.

Salazar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deal in firearms without a federal license. He was sentenced Dec. 21 to one year in federal prison, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Nathan Hochman.

Miranda, who pleaded guilty to one count of selling firearms without a federal license, is scheduled for sentencing today. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Hochman said.

In a telephone interview with The Times, Miranda acknowledged that he sold 19 guns to an undercover agent but denied selling any weapons to gang members or anyone else.

“I sold him some (guns), but I was not selling guns to Tom, Dick and Harry,” Miranda said. “I could have said, ‘No,’ but I didn’t because I needed the money.

“I was living in the park,” Miranda said. “I was homeless at the time.” He said the agent “kept coming around . . . and I was in need of money.”

Miranda’s court-appointed lawyer, Gerald Salceda, agreed with his client, saying, “I have seen no evidence of him doing anything but selling guns to an ATF agent.”

Salazar’s attorney could not be reached for comment.

ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Wall said invoices and other records show that more than 1,000 guns were purchased with Salazar’s license in 1990.

Dozens of these guns, Wall said, “were found by police agencies.”

“They don’t migrate all over the county by levitation,” Wall said. “They (purchasers) knew he (Salazar) was an accessible source for firearms for criminals.”

A Santa Ana gun dealer who alerted federal authorities that Salazar had been buying “20 to 30 handguns” at a time from his store said he was “appalled” at Salazar’s prison sentence.

“It’s a travesty,” said the gun dealer, who asked that his name not be used. “I think he should have gotten 10 years.”

“Most of the guns he bought were bought after I pulled the government’s chain,” said the dealer, who sold 765 guns to Salazar last year. “I made photocopies of every serial number of every gun (Salazar purchased).”

The ATF investigation was launched March 1 when the agency received a tip from an informant that a man living out of a van in Lincoln Park was “selling brand new firearms,” according to an affidavit filed by the undercover agent in the case.

The next day, the agent said he introduced himself to Miranda by saying that he had just been “released from prison” and was “looking for a gun,” according to the affidavit.

“Miranda stated he could get me any type of gun I needed,” the agent said in the affidavit.

The agent asked for a 12-gauge shotgun. Miranda, who was under surveillance at the time, left the park in a green sedan driven by Salazar, the affidavit said. About 20 minutes later, the pair returned with the shotgun and 20 shells, which they sold to the agent for $350, according to the affidavit.

“Miranda said he and his partner made $80 profit on the deal,” the agent said in the affidavit.

In similar transactions observed by other undercover agents watching from a distance, the men accepted additional orders for guns from the agent and then traveled together to various apartments and homes east of downtown Los Angeles where the weapons were stashed, the agent said.

On the way back to the park, “they’d take circuitous routes and double-back a lot if they thought they were being followed,” Watson said.

The undercover agent eventually purchased 18 more guns from the men including .25-caliber, .380-caliber and .22-caliber pistols, which were delivered in sacks and boxes, the affidavit said.