Federal authorities target gun sales to gangs

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 2007 Zillah High School graduate and high-ranking Boy Scout was found innocent Thursday of illegally selling a .50-caliber rifle to a convicted killer in a deal arranged by street gang associates.

The federal jury deadlocked on a second count of the same charge against Nicholas Rohrbach, prompting a retrial that was tentatively scheduled for June 14.

Three other men -- including the two gang associates who negotiated the deals -- have pleaded guilty to related charges in U.S. District Court in Yakima and face sentencing later this year.

Court documents say the case was part of an effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track down how gang members in Yakima are arming themselves.

The ATF has an office in Yakima, and agents work closely with the Yakima Police Department's Gang Enforcement Team and the countywide Violent Crime Task Force.

In Rohrbach's case, an informant's cooperation offered a rare opportunity for local gang and gun investigators to get inside the Yakima Valley's active black market for weapons.

Gang investigators say they try to seize as many illegally owned and stolen firearms as possible, but breaking into the organizations can be difficult.

Along with selling drugs, street gangs spend a lot of time trying to steal or buy guns.

"That's their No. 1 priority," said one local investigator who works gang cases.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Rohrbach and the three other defendants were involved in the sale of a dozen rifles, handguns and shotguns, as well as ammunition, including door-breaching rounds.

Rohrbach, an admitted gun enthusiast who lives in Yakima, was portrayed by the defense as a well-regarded young man who got caught up in the case because he knew one of the defendants from their classes together at Perry Technical Institute in Yakima.

Yakima attorney Rick Smith argued to the jury that Rohrbach should be found innocent because he did not realize the informant had been convicted of a felony. Federal law prohibits knowingly selling a firearm to someone with a felony conviction.

The black .50-caliber rifle, capable of hitting a target from more than a mile away, sat on the prosecution table in front of the jury during much of the trial.

A gang member who agreed to work with the ATF as an informant played a key role in the case against Rohrbach. Because he had served prison time for killing a rival, the informant had credibility on the street. The same informant was involved in a second Yakima case that resulted in federal drug and gun charges.

Using his prison connection, the informant was introduced to one of the defendants, Abraham Salamanca, a Yakima man with gang ties who agreed to sell him cocaine and guns.

That connection led the informant to two other defendants -- Daniel Osegueda and Lathen Carlson -- and ultimately Rohrbach.

At least some of the guns sold to the informant had been taken in burglaries, authorities said.

But the .50-caliber rifle was Rohrbach's.

During the trial this week, prosecutors played tape recordings of conversations between the informant and the defendants.

In one of their meetings, the informant joked about knowing someone at McNeil Island who resembled Rohrbach.

However, trial evidence suggested Rohrbach didn't know that McNeil Island was a reference to the state prison, and he told investigators that he didn't equate serving time with a felony conviction.

Rohrbach testified in his own defense. He acknowledged in hindsight that he felt the gun deals were questionable.