An Orlando man continues to languish behind bars over his refusal to hand over the customer list for his firearm parts business. For that offense, Lawrence Michael DeStefano faces possible centuries locked away.
The owner of Indie Guns has been in Florida’s Orange County Jail for nearly three months and faces possible extradition to New York in the coming days for prosecution.
Businessman faces spending the rest of his life in prison
DeStefano was one of 10 gun parts businesses targeted by New York State Attorney General Leticia James (D). It seems the home-built arms kits his company supplied to citizens in all 50 states ran afoul of her clear anti-Second Amendment agenda.
Alarmingly, the other nine enterprises approached by officials handed over their client list to the New York AG. DeStefano dug in, and the Florida man did not pull punches in describing his legal confrontation.
“I will never tell Letitia James who bought my guns,” DeStefano told an interviewer from the Orange County Jail. “I care about my customers. They should know I will never turn over their customer data. That’s why James went criminal, but I will never give them up. They are law-abiding citizens and do not need to worry.”
New York officials seized dealer’s inventory and cash
A noble stand for a man under tremendous strain.
ATF agents and two New York State detectives executed a search warrant for DeStefano’s home and rental properties in October. They seized thousands of gun parts kits along with gold coins and cash.
DeStefano’s ordeal intensified when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) sent a letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). It charged the businessman with 71 crimes, carrying a possible sentence of 521 years in prison.
The list included 39 counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree and 28 counts of manufacture, transport, disposition, and defacement of weapons and dangerous appliances.
This is not the first legal confrontation between DeStefano and the anti-gun rights James, and the AG previously won a hefty civil suit against the gun parts dealer. But he is undaunted and sent a message to his New York clients from jail.
“I care about my customers. They do not need to worry,” DeStefano said. “Gun privacy to me is sacrosanct, just like confession. Please tell all my 50,000 customers in New York that they don’t have to hide anything. Please reassure them that they do not have to be scared. I will die in jail before I ever give them up.”
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