Massachusetts cop pleads guilty to federal gun, bank fraud charges

Daniel Whitman, 37, of Salisbury, who resigned from his position with the Tyngsboro Police Department at the end of August, pleaded guilty to a nine-count federal indictment and is set to be sentenced on Jan. 27, according to U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins' office.

Rollins' office stated Whitman pleaded guilty in federal court to one count each of bank fraud conspiracy, possession of an unregistered firearm, conspiracy to violate provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA), making a firearm in violation of the NFA, and transferring a firearm in violation of the NFA; and two counts of both bank fraud, and making false statements to a bank.

The bank fraud charges include a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The NFA charges include a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $10,000.

An affidavit submitted in January 2021 to the court by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Jarrod Pasciucco details an effort by Whitman and his co-conspirator in the bank fraud and some gun charges, Bin Lu, 50, a Chinese national living in Westford, to convert guns they were legally allowed to repair, buy and sell, into more heavily-regulated short-barrel rifles, which Whitman's firearms store, Hitman Firearms LLC, did not have the proper licenses for.

One of those guns, a complete CMMG MK9 rifle found during a search of the shop, was purchased only as a lower receiver and stock, and was never registered once it was completed as a short-barrel rifle, according to the affidavit.

Another gun was found during a search of Lu's vehicle after Lu showed up at the store on Middlesex Road while the search was ongoing, according to the affidavit. That gun was a Sig Sauer MCX with a folding stock attached. Federal records showed the gun was sold to Hitman as just a pistol, without a folding stock, and was never registered as a short-barreled rifle once a stock was attached, the affidavit states.

The affidavit also reveals that federal agents had searched Whitman's cellphone when he returned to Logan Airport in Boston from Iceland on March 3. The affidavit says Whitman's phone contained numerous conversations that were seized, as well as a document containing an audit of the 45 guns owned by Hitman.

"A total of 25 of these firearms are identified as being in the possession of "Bin." Those firearms listed in Lu's possession include (the two allegedly unlicensed short-barreled rifles)," Pasciucco wrote in the affidavit. "Seven of the other firearms list their location as '?'."

The affidavit also details a YouTube channel run by Lu that promoted both Hitman Firearms and Freedom Alley Shooting Sports, a business Whitman and Lu have worked on together and which sought to build a large indoor shooting range at 44 Cummings Road in Tyngsboro. The town granted a special permit for the shooting range in 2016, but the plans were never completed.

Lu previously pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and possession of an unregistered firearm.

Whitman — who had been a Tyngsboro police officer since 2011 — was put on paid administrative leave in August 2019. In June 2021, when Whitman was indicted by a federal grand jury, the Tyngsboro Board of Selectman voted unanimously to suspend Whitman without pay. Over the nearly two years he didn't work, Whitman made nearly $135,000.

Whitman resigned from the department on Aug. 29, according to Tyngsboro Police Chief Richard Howe.

"It is important for our residents to understand that this police administration has offered its full cooperation, and support to all involved agencies since first being notified of the investigation," Howe wrote in an email to The Sun on Thursday after learning of Whitman's guilty plea. "During this difficult period within our department and within our community, we have always made, and will continue to make, decisions that are true to our code of ethics and consistent with the department's mission, vision and core values."

Howe added the department is "grateful justice has been served," and "the rule of law has been honored" by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"The residents of Tyngsborough should rightfully expect, at all times, that their police department and its members are working selflessly, with honor and integrity, for the service and protection of our residents," Howe concluded.

A phone call made by The Sun to Whitman's attorney, Oscar Cruz Jr., was not immediately returned.

Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis