Four Charged with Selling Stolen Saddam Hussein Family Weapons

By Alicia Cruz
TheBlackUrbanTimes.com

New Jersey police arrested four men Thursday and charged each with conspiring to sell seven firearms believed to have belonged to the family of former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

Howard A. Blumenthal, 74, of Fort Lee, N.J.; Carola M. Quirola, aka Carlos "Manny" Quirola-Ordonez, 55, of New Milford, N.J.; David Phillip Ryan, 48, of Miami, Fla. and Karlo Christian Sauer, 42, of Pittsburgh, Pa., were all charged with one count each of conspiracy to transport stolen firearms and conspiracy to sell and receive stolen property.
Ryan faced an additional charge of unlawful mailing of firearms. Blumenthal and Quirola made their initial court appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court on Thursday. Sauer made his initial appearance in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

According to the complaint, law enforcement officials received information in April 2012 indicating that valuable firearms allegedly belonging to members of Saddam Hussein's family, were for sale. Investigators say the weapons were being held in Florida. The complaint further alleges that from April to August 2012, all four defendants conspired to possess, ship, buy and receive the stolen weapons, which were appraised at $250,000 to $350,000.

Investigators say in May 2012, Ryan emailed photographs and an appraisal of the Hussein Family firearms to Sauer, who was responsible for finding a buyer. Sauer passed the information on to Blumenthal, who then passed the information on to Quirola.

In June 2012, Ryan allegedly mailed one of the weapons, the Llama Semiautomatic .45 ACP pistol, to a sporting goods store in Ridgefield, New Jersey and Quirola offered it for sale to an undercover law enforcement agent. During his meeting with Quirola, the agent photographed the weapon using his cell phone and was told by Quirola that the Llama Semiautomatic and other Hussein Family weapons had been smuggled out of Iraq and were being stored in Florida. The defendant also told the agent that if he wanted the weapons he would have to provide a $20,000 deposit before the remaining weapons would be shipped from Florida to New Jersey.

After meeting with the agent, Quirola telephoned Ryan saying the firearms deal was ready to go through.

In July 2012, Ryan reportedly flew into New York City's Laguardia airport with all of the remaining weapons and the following day, all four defendants met at a restaurant in Fairview, New Jersey where they discussed the sale. During a later meeting with undercover agents, Blumenthal and Sauer admitted that they knew the guns were illegally taken from Iraq and stolen. Police say that during the course of the conspiracy, seven firearms were shipped to New Jersey from Florida for viewing by potential buyers.

In October 2012,  federal investigators met with Jabir Habeb, Iraqi Ambassador to the United States in Washington who confirmed that the weapons the defendants were in possession of did, in fact, originate from the Republic of Iraq. Federal agents have not discussed how they believe the weapons were smuggled out of Iraq, when or by whom.

When agents raided the sporting goods store, they seized:

One Coonan Arms Inc, .357 semi-automatic pistol, nickel finish, made in St. Paul, Minn., with gold inlay and a medallion “QS” on left side grip (believed to be the initials of Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, the second son of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein)

One Korth, .357 magnum revolver (six shot) stamped “Made in W. Germany Waffenfabrik Koth Ratzeburg/LBG,” with gold inlay, black finish, wood grips, which displays a drawing of a wild boar

One Korth, .357 magnum, revolver (six shot) stamped “Made in W. Germany Waffenfabrik Koth Ratzeburg/LBG,” with gold inlay, black finish, wood grips, which displays a drawing of a moose

One Chinese State Factories type 64 pistol, .32 caliber semi-auto pistol, black finish, with Yemen flag icon on both sides of grip and Arabic writing on the slide

Two Cosmi, 12 gauge shotguns, break top, single barrel

One Llama Semiautomatic .45 ACP pistol with gold leaf and gold inlays, hand engraved, bearing the initials “Q.S.”
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Donald J. Sorrano; Homeland Securities Investigation-ICE , under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew McLees, with the investigation leading to the charges.

Serina M. Vash, Senior Litigation Counsel of the Organized Crime and Gangs Unit in Newark will prosecute for the State.

The counts with which the four defendants are charged are punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The unlawful mailing count with which Ryan is charged is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Saddam Hussein was the fifth President of Iraq. He held that office from July 1979 until April 9, 2003. Saddam Hussein's children include:
        Uday (Died 22 July 2003). Saddam Hussein's oldest son, who ran the Iraqi Football Association, Fedayeen Saddam and Qusay (Died 22 July 2003), Saddam's second son. Raghad (born 2 September 1968) is Saddam's oldest daughter, followed by Rana, and Hala. All three women fled to Jordan after the fall of Baghdad to U.S. troops in April 2003. Their father, one of the most sought-after fugitives in American history, went into hiding and was captured by American troops on December 13, 2003 in a small farmhouse in the town of Adwar.

The former dictator was detained at Camp Cropper in Baghdad for the duration of his trial. The Iraqi Special Tribunal charged the 69-year-old for crimes against humanity and genocide.

On November 5, 2006, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging. On December 26, his appeal was rejected and his execution ordered to take place within 30 days. Saddam Hussein was executed by hanging on December 30, 2006. His remains were returned to his birthplace of Al-Awja, near Tikrit.