EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the number of stolen firearms — and a discrepancy — and the federal charges filed against the suspects.
HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Three Ottawa County residents, Matteo Adnan Marroquin; Lacy Lynn Zimmerman, and Andrew Tyler Leenheer are in custody and sources are confirming they were indicted in federal court related to the Dec. 9, 2018 theft of at least 24 guns from Graafschap Hardware.
All three are facing federal charges, one count each for theft of 22 firearms from a federal firearms licencee; for possession of stolen firearms; and for being felons in possession of firearms. Leenheer also faces a fourth count, for being in possession of a stolen firearm — the one listed in the indictment is a Century Arms, Model C39V2, 7.62 x 39 semiautomatic, also known as an AK 47.
MJ Alexander, the store’s gunsmith, said he can’t comment on anything related to this story.
“It is an ongoing federal investigation, and that’s all I can say,” he said.
Charges, according to documents file in the U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan
The case is a multi-jurisdictional investigation involving the Ottawa and Allegan County Sheriff’s Office; Holland Department of Public Safety; WEMET; and the ATF.
Allegan County Sheriff’s Lt. Brett Ensfield told WHTC two Allegan officers assisted the ATF in attempting to recover the stolen firearms and identify and apprehend the suspects.
“I do not know the specifics on what agencies had people helping,” Ensfield wrote in an email to WHTC. “I can say it was a great cooperative effort of multiple agencies from different jurisdictions.”
It is unclear whether all the firearms stolen have been recovered. Graafschap Hardware released a list of 24 firearms considered lost in the theft; the indictment lists 22.
All three suspects in the Graafschap Hardware theft had previous criminal records.
Marroquin, 22, of Holland, was arrested on Oct. 21, 2017, and charged with methamphetamine possession, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $15,000 fine, or both. He took a plea deal and on June 25, 2018, was sentenced to one year in prison. On Nov. 16, 2018, he was listed as an absconder from parole, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. On Dec. 10, 2018, Holland police arrested him and he was charged with possession of methamphetamine. Ottawa County Jail records as of Dec. 18, 2018, indicate his bond was denied.
Zimmerman, 22, took a plea deal in Muskegon County’s Circuit Court related to two counts of organized retail crime from incidents on May 28 and 29, 2017. She was sentenced on Aug, 31, 2017 to one year, six months in prison but could have faced up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both. Michigan Department of Corrections records show her as an absconder from probation as of Nov. 14, 2018. Holland police arrested her on Dec. 10, 2018, and she was taken to Ottawa County Jail on suspicions of delivering a controlled substance. Her bond was denied.
Zeeland resident Leenheer, 23, was taken into custody by Holland police on Dec. 9, 2018, and is in Ottawa County Jail on a domestic violence charge. He was arrested on June 24, 2013, on a home invasion charge by Ottawa County Sheriff’s deputies and later entered a guilty plea. He was sentenced at that time to 180 days in jail, according to court records.
This story will be updated as more details become available.
