Man Charged With Providing Guns to Gangs : Law: A dealer is accused of misusing his license. His lawyer says it’s a paperwork matter.

Federal agents say they have foiled an underground gun syndicate that supplied hundreds of inexpensive weapons to gang members and criminals in Orange County for years.

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles delivered a 21-count indictment against James Larry Simmons, 55, charging him with federal firearms violations.

Roughly 1,700 guns have been traced to Simmons, federal authorities say, including one gun used in a shootout between a gang member and Santa Ana police.

“Unfortunately, the damage has been done, to the extent that 1,700 guns had already been put on the street before we were able to stop his illegal activities,” said Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms spokesman John D’Angelo.

Simmons, a Temecula resident, was federally licensed as a firearms dealer. But he gave false information on his license application, according to the indictments, and used the falsely obtained license to acquire bulk quantities of guns at wholesale prices.

Federal agents began investigating Simmons last February, D’Angelo said, after an 18-year-old gang member was shot and killed in a schoolyard confrontation with Santa Ana police.

Agents traced the dead gang member’s gun to Simmons, whose record-keeping attracted suspicion.

“During the trace we learned James Simmons did not have records for his firearms dispositions,” D’Angelo said.

Contrary to state law, Simmons did not wait 15 days before delivering his guns to customers, agents say, and he also violated federal law by failing to register the names of his customers with authorities.

Simmons, a truck driver in Santa Fe Springs, was arrested at his workplace Thursday without incident. He was freed on $25,000 bond pending a Monday arraignment.

Police also arrested two people they identified as partners in the gun-dealing operation: Lynnette Grove, 62, of Whittier, and Sambeth So, 28, of Long Beach.

“A large number of guns, we feel, went to gangs in the Long Beach area,” D’Angelo said.

Simmons’ lawyer, H. Dean Steward, said federal agents are blaming Simmons for events beyond his control.

“What he’s doing here is simply selling guns pursuant to his federal legal license,” said Steward, a federal public defender. “The (government) complaint, when you look at it, clearly is that he didn’t keep correct paperwork.”

Steward said federal authorities are jumping to conclusions when they accuse Simmons of helping gang members and criminals.

“That is so far down the consumer line, Mr. Simmons would have no way of knowing that would ever happen,” Steward said. If convicted, Simmons faces a maximum sentence of 200 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. But Steward said the maximum sentence is rarely used in such cases.

D’Angelo said the guns Simmons pumped into the county will cause problems for years. Already, guns sold by Simmons have turned up in six states.

“With 1,700 guns, they don’t go away,” D’Angelo said. “They’ll be passed on, stolen from people and what not. They’ll be turning up for years.”