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Beach police charge 3 Marines with selling illegal guns


VIRGINIA BEACH

Three Marines face charges that they were involved in the sale of firearms made with stolen military property, police said Friday.

Members of Virginia Beach Police Department's SWAT team arrested Drew C. Turnage, 21, and Michael Lee Avants, 25, both of the 400 block of Mariners Way in Norfolk, police spokeswoman Margie Long said.

Turnage was booked on multiple charges, including conspiracy, possession of a stolen firearm, and failure to register a machine gun. Avants was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and receiving a stolen firearm.

Authorities said they arrested a third Marine, Robert J. Sterling, 23, of the 1300 block of Piersey St. in Norfolk on charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, larceny with intent to sell and receiving a stolen firearm.

This month, Virginia Beach police and Naval Criminal Investigative Service officials began looking into the possible sale of illegal firearms and the disappearance of military weapon parts scheduled for destruction, Long said.

The investigation led to Turnage and Avants, who were seen trying to deal a semiautomatic rifle and a fully automatic rifle on Tuesday in the 3900 block of Holland Road, Long said.

Officials called in the SWAT team to arrest the pair "due to the heavy firepower of the suspects," Long said. The weapons, both made with stolen service weapon parts, were seized, she said.

Investigators learned of Sterling's involvement and arrested him the next day at the Naval Operations Base in Norfolk, Long said.

All three men were being held in the Virginia Beach Correctional Center. Jail records show the Marines are assigned to Camp Allen in Norfolk.

Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com

Ellie