Pawn shop owner facing gun charges

By Sally Voth - svoth@nvdaily.com

HARRISONBURG -- A Front Royal pawn shop owner has been indicted in U.S. District Court on numerous gun charges.

Don Francis Simonpietri, 64, of 9503 Stonewall Jackson Highway, Front Royal, was indicted Thursday, but the indictments were sealed until Tuesday, according to online court records.

He faces one count each of conspiracy to deal firearms without a license and dealing firearms without a license, three counts of selling or giving firearms to a convicted felon, three counts of possession of a firearm not registered to him, and two counts of possession of a machine gun.

Simonpietri pleaded not guilty Tuesday afternoon and was ordered to remain in jail until he decides to "cooperate with his own care," court records say. He is on suicide watch, and has refused food, water and medical attention.

A jury trial has been set for Nov. 9 and 10.

Simonpietri was arrested last fall when Front Royal police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents searched his home and pawn shop, which is at 528 S. Royal Ave. Nearly 50 firearms were seized from his home, and 1,261 from his pawn shop, according to affidavits filed in Warren County Circuit Court.

He was accused of selling guns to felons at the Front Royal Flea Market.

"It's been one of the largest [raids] I've been a part of," Michael Schneider, resident ATF agent at the Martinsburg, W.Va., field office, said at the time.

He said Simonpietri's federal firearms license was revoked five years ago.

Federal law allows dealers to transfer their gun inventories to their personal collection and sell to state residents, including at flea markets, Schneider said.

"The problem that [Simonpietri] ran into is that he was normally selling firearms to convicted felons," Schneider said last October.

State charges against Simonpietri were dropped in May so he could be prosecuted in federal court.

According to the indictment, the federal government is seeking the forfeiture of about 1,100 guns and a 2004 Ford Mustang convertible.

Simonpietri is one of five men who have been charged in state or federal court with illegal firearms sales at the flea market.

In March, Charles William Shipe, 66, formerly of 937 Pouts Hill Road, Strasburg, but with a last known address in Charlottesville, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to sell a firearm to someone he knew was a convicted felon, and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A month later, Ricky Saretta Foster, 58, of 535 Camp Mosby Road, Stanley, pleaded guilty to selling a firearm that was in interstate commerce to a convicted felon, according to online court records.

Shipe and Foster are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6, according to court records.

Philip L. Garr, 51, of 5128 Oakpark Road, Oakpark, pleaded guilty in Warren Count Circuit Court in the spring to selling a firearm to a convicted felon. He has a plea agreement that calls for him to not serve any jail time if he stays out of trouble.

Roy Lee McBride, 76, of 646 Bel Air Ave., Front Royal, pleaded guilty in Warren County Circuit Court to selling a firearm to a felon, while an identical charge was dropped, according to court records. He will be on unsupervised probation for five years.