James A. Mayhugh Jr., 61, of Springfield, falsified records for more than 200 gun sales. He lied in his records about the identity of the purchaser and then sold them on the black market. At least two of the 248 weapons were later discovered by law enforcement out of state while executing search warrants, according to a release from Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Mayhugh owned and operated Jim’s Sports in Springfield. According to court documents, ATF investigators noticed unusual trends in his sales records between 2008 and 2018 of identical firearm sales to the same group of individuals. Also, federal law required the purchaser to complete and sign forms but each document instead was in Mayhugh’s handwriting. Further, one customer died in 2014 but Mayhugh’s records showed gun purchases as recently as 2018. Other customers had made a one-time purchase from Mayhugh 15 to 20 years ago, but records showed repeated buys in recent years, the release stated.
Mayhugh pleaded guilty in May to violating federal requirements to provide the name, age and address of firearms purchasers. He also agreed to surrender his federal firearms license and no longer operate a business.
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