BOSTON — The former Tyngsboro police officer and owner of a retail gun shop who admitted to illegally manufacturing and selling assault weapons, while conspiring to defraud local banks of over $9 million in loans for a shooting range, will spend time in prison.
U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office announced on Wednesday that Daniel Whitman, 39, of Salisbury, was sentenced in federal court to serve one year, plus one day, behind bars.
Whitman, who resigned from his position with the Tyngsboro Police Department at the end of August, also received two years of supervised release and must pay a $20,000 fine.
The sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris falls somewhere between the sentence recommendations made to the court by federal prosecutors and Whitman’s attorney, Oscar Cruz Jr.
Prosecutors recommended an 18-month prison sentence for Whitman, followed by three years of supervised release, a fine, and the forfeiture of $26,250 cash along with the weapons listed in the indictment.
Cruz had countered with a sentence request of time served and two years of supervised release. In the defendant’s sentencing memorandum, filed in federal court on Tuesday, Cruz also asked the court not impose on his client a forfeiture or money judgment.
In the memorandum, Cruz described Whitman as “full of remorse.”
Whitman pleaded guilty in October to one count each of bank fraud conspiracy, possession of an unregistered firearm, conspiracy to violate provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA), making a firearm in violation of the NFA, and transferring a firearm in violation of the NFA; and two counts of both bank fraud and making false statements to a bank.
An affidavit filed in court in January 2021 by a Homeland Security agent detailed an effort by Whitman and his co-conspirator in the bank fraud and some gun charges, Bin Lu, 50, a Chinese national living in Westford, to convert guns they were legally allowed to repair, buy and sell, into more heavily-regulated short-barrel rifles, which Whitman’s firearms store, Hitman Firearms LLC, did not have the proper licenses to carry.
Whitman also created Freedom Alley Shooting Sports LLC, which prosecutors said he envisioned as a large indoor shooting range that would serve regional and international customers, and offer shooting clinics and other services.
Whitman and Lu sought to build the facility at 44 Cummings Road in Tyngsboro, and received a special permit from the town in 2016.
Prosecutors said Whitman and Lu brought in a Chinese investor who contributed several million dollars to the project in exchange for a majority interest in the company. In applying for loans from federally insured banks to fund the construction of the shooting range — including Lowell Five and Avidia Bank — prosecutors said Whitman hid the source of their initial funding and filed false documents in connection with their loan applications.
In the sentencing memorandum, Cruz wrote that Whitman’s intent was to make Freedom Alley Shooting Sports business project a lucrative and legitimate business venture.
“His primary goal was not to defraud these local banks out of their money but to fund the completion of a project that he truly believed could be extremely successful,” Cruz said.
Cruz added a “legitimate path” to the completion of the project would have taken many more years, and that Whitman and Lu became “impatient” and decided to make misrepresentations to the banks to expedite the process. Cruz described the decision as “misguided, reckless, and frankly stupid.”
“Mr. Whitman acknowledges this and understands, better than most given his background, what he did was wrong,” Cruz wrote. “He is embarrassed that he was involved in this situation and is highly motivated to make significant changes in his life.”
Whitman — who had served as a Tyngsboro police officer for approximately 12 years — was put on paid administrative leave in August 2019. In June 2021, when Whitman was indicted by a federal grand jury, the Tyngsboro Board of Selectman voted unanimously to suspend Whitman without pay.
Cruz declined a request from The Sun to talk about Whitman’s sentence.
Lu pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm in June 2021. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6.
Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis
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