Another charge against gun dealer

A federal grand jury has added another firearms-related felony charge against a Bellevue gun dealer once arrested as a material witness in the 2001 slaying of Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Wales.

Albert Kwok-Leung Kwan was charged Wednesday with unlawful possession of a short-barreled rifle, which carries a potential prison term of up to 10 years. Kwan earlier had been charged with possession of a machine gun.

Kwan has been scrutinized by the FBI and federal prosecutors because of evidence that he purchased two replacement gun barrels for a handgun like the one that was used to kill Wales. Kwan claims he recalls buying only one barrel, which he turned over to the federal agents. However, his attorney and court documents say he failed a FBI polygraph about the second barrel.

Agents with a task force investigating Wales' slaying say they do not think Kwan killed Wales. They are trying to determine whether he gave the second gun barrel to the person who did.

Wales was shot to death in the basement of his Queen Anne home Oct. 11, 2001. Bullets and shell casings recovered from the crime scene indicate the weapon was an Eastern European Makarov fitted with a replacement barrel. Only about 3,500 of the barrels were sold in the United States, and the FBI has been trying to find and test them all.

The task force has investigated hundreds of leads but has focused on a Bellevue airline pilot who Wales had prosecuted for fraud in the late 1990s. Those charges eventually were dropped and he was bitter over the ordeal, according to court documents.

In January 2005, Kwan was jailed for 23 days as a material witness in the case. An avid gun collector, agents searched his home and found more than 100 weapons, including an allegedly unregistered M-14 machine gun. Kwan is free but must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Attempts to contact his Washington, D.C., attorney, Joseph Conte, were unsuccessful Wednesday. Conte has accused the government of trying to pressure Kwan to remember what he did with the second barrel.

The new charge alleges he owned a Heckler & Koch VP70Z firearm fitted with a shoulder stock. Prosecutors allege the weapon is a short-barreled rifle and must be registered. Kwan's weapon was not registered, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Redkey said.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com