A federal jury has convicted a Wheat Ridge gun dealer who became a Discovery Channel reality TV star on 10 felony counts related to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion.
Richard Wyatt, 53, of Evergreen, was taken into custody immediately following the guilty verdict in Denver U.S. District Court Friday afternoon and awaits sentencing at a later date. Wyatt faces up to 15 years in a federal prison, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer.
The jury was hung on three charges of illegal importing of weapons.
The jury found Wyatt guilty of failing to report $1.1 million in income to the IRS, conspiracy and dealing firearms without a license.
ATF agents seized 583 guns and ammunition from his Gunsmoke store on March 31, 2015.
Wyatt had entered an agreement with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to relinquish his federal firearms license in 2012.
Even without a gun license he was able to negotiate a lucrative contract with the Discovery Channel that would eventually pay him about $500,000 in 2011 and 2012 to star in “American Guns,” which revolved around activities at his Wheat Ridge shop, Gunsmoke Guns.
Wyatt did 26 episodes of the show with his wife, two children and employees.
According to court records, Wyatt kept his business running by conspiring with the owner of Triggers, a gun store in Castle Rock, to operate Gunsmoke under a straw license.
When Triggers also surrendered its firearms license, Wyatt conspired with other gun dealers to keep his business afloat, records indicate. His customers would buy a gun from him at Gunsmoke and then go to the other stores for criminal background checks and to pick up their weapons.
Two undercover ATF agents wore body cameras while they purchased four guns from Wyatt on three occasions, court records indicate.
UPDATE: This story was updated March 8, 2018, at 3:31 p.m. to correct the year that Richard Wyatt surrendered his federal firearms license. He gave up the license in an agreement with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2012.
