Lawyer Allegedly Caught in Sting Buying Silenced 'Hit Man's Gun,' Citing A/C Privilege as a Shield
A middle-aged lawyer and gun collector has been charged with a felony after allegedly purchasing in a sting what he called “a hit man’s gun” with a silencer and another firearm he thought had been stolen as well.
Thomas Michael Barrett, 51, has been charged by Milwaukee police with possessing a firearm with a silencer, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He faces up to three years in prison, if convicted.
During the course of arranging the transaction, Barrett allegedly told the informant who sold the silenced Sport King to him, “Dude, you sell it to anybody, and it gets traced back that you had possession of it at some point. I mean, I’m a safe guy to give it to because I’m an attorney, and I have an interest in gunsmithing and I can say I was going to dispose of it and the trail ends here . . . There’s attorney-client privilege.”
At last report, Barrett was being held in the Milwaukee County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. The article doesn’t include any comment from him or his counsel.
A 1990 law graduate of Northern Illinois University, he focuses his practice on real estate and personal injury matters and business law.
