Collection of Articles about Police Officers Killed by Semi- Automatic ...

passed back to the state court system. But since its inception, federal gun prosecutions
have increased 68 percent nationwide, according to numbers released this month by the
U.S. Department of Justice.
Utah's task force differs from others across the nation because it involves the entire
state instead of just a major city or a highly-populated area, Sarnacki said. Task force
members, including commander Larry Marx, have conducted training sessions with each
of the 110 police agencies in Utah, and cases have originated from small communities
such as Delta, Mount Pleasant, Salina and Ivins.
Uintah County Sheriff's Sgt. Keith Campbell, a task-force member, says the project is
one of the most effective crime-fighting tools available.
"Those people were infecting our community, and the federal system is actually going
to make them go elsewhere," said Campbell.
Utah does not have a federal prison and federal inmates are primarily sent outside
Utah to serve their prison terms.
"There is not much of a deterrent in the state system," he said. "But in the federal
system the word is getting out."
Through informants he has heard of criminals telling each other to stay away from
firearms. "The bottom line is that means this is a deterrent," he said.
Campbell's first case as a task-force member involved Michael Nelson Swett, 46, who
was convicted of handing a SKS rifle to Lee Roy Wood who then used it to kill Roosevelt
Police Chief Cecil Gurr on July 6, 2001. Swett was sentenced to 10 years in prison for
possession of a gun by a restricted person and giving a gun to a convicted felon.
"We have used [Project Safe Neighborhoods] as an additional tool to rid ourselves of
some unscrupulous characters," Uintah County Sheriff Rick Hawkins said.
The shortest sentence handed down in the program's history is three months. The
longest sentence belongs to Martinez.
Public service announcements, such as the one recorded by Martinez's mother, are
sorely needed since most Utahns are unaware of the hard time criminals face if
convicted of a gun crime, say federal law enforcement officials.
A recent survey conducted by state and federal officials shows that 55 percent of
respondents didn't know defendants convicted of a federal gun crime have no possibility
of parole. And 40 percent of respondents who own guns mistakenly thought it was legal
for a person convicted of domestic violence to carry a firearm.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of Utah and the ATF produced a video about the project
which is shown to felons as they leave the state prison.
"I'm a prosecutor. I'm not a social worker, and as such, if you violate federal gun
laws, you will be prosecuted," U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner warns felons. "There
will be no leniency."
But not all released felons have paid attention. Benjamin Jorgensen, 28, was released
on Aug. 12 and two days later rearrested for possessing a Ruger .45 caliber handgun
and ammunition. He was indicted in September, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on
Jan. 22. He faces up to 10 years in prison.