Dealer Who Sold Guns to Police Is Felony Suspect

A gun dealing dentist from Burbank who already faces felony weapons charges stands at the center of an investigation into potentially illegal purchases of assault weapons by Los Angeles police officers, according to documents and interviews.

LAPD detectives are investigating “the illegal purchase of at least 20 assault weapons by LAPD personnel� from dentist Lawrence Wolff, according to an investigative report from the state Department of Justice. The precise number of officers whose actions are being investigated is unclear.

Wolff, a licensed dealer of machine guns and assault rifles, was charged last month in Orange County with a number of weapons violations, including conspiracy to offer an assault weapon for sale.

Charged with Wolff was Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Kresimir Kovac, who was seeking to become a federally licensed law enforcement gun dealer like Wolff. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. An attorney for Wolff said that the Los Angeles Police Department is out to get his client.

The men were charged in Orange County because Kovac lives in Fountain Valley.

The charges against Wolff and Kovac stem from an undercover operation by the state Department of Justice in which an informant was recruited to buy illegal assault weapons from Wolff.

As part of a multi-agency probe into Wolff’s gun business, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in December seized hundreds of documents from Wolff’s home detailing sales of assault rifles to police officers. Wolff lives in Burbank and his dental office is in Encino. Like many gun dealers, Wolff sells firearms as a sideline business. Some of those documents are suspected of having been fraudulently prepared by LAPD officers in order to illegally buy assault rifles.

LAPD officials said they have been investigating gun transactions by officers since last June. State law forbids the sale of assault weapons, but has an exception for any police officer “authorized by his or her employer to possess or receive the assault weapon.�

To meet the requirements of the law, an officer must present a letter on the letterhead of his or her department giving approval to purchase the weapon. The letter must be signed by a superior.

Any officer who faked a letter to obtain an assault weapon could be guilty of a felony and face LAPD discipline, according to state laws and Police Department guidelines.

Wolff’s attorney, Robert Walters, said his client had no idea that documents offered by LAPD officers may have been altered.

Walters added that he is suspicious about the timing of the criminal charges against his client, who could become a witness against any LAPD officer who might have illegally purchased an assault weapon from him. “They’re trying to muddy up my client,� Walters said. “The LAPD is trying to make someone else the bad guy.�

According to documents, state investigators enlisted an informant to buy illegal assault rifles from Wolff. The informant had been arrested for selling illegal handguns during another sting operation.

When the informant made contact, Wolff refused to deal with him, officials said. The informant persisted, phoning Wolff several times to convince Wolff to give him a contact who would sell him an assault rifle, officials said.

Finally, Wolff told the informant that he knew someone who could do so. That someone, according to documents, was Kovac.

Prosecutors alleged that Kovac initially made the transaction but then backed out of it after becoming suspicious of the informant.

Kovac, who has pleaded not guilty, has been relieved of duty without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, said his lawyer, Melvyn Sacks. Sacks said his client was working for Wolff and was misled by his boss into believing that the weapons were properly registered and legal.

Kovac, a recent nominee for the Sheriff’s Department’s Medal of Valor with seven years on the force, is charged with one count of conspiracy to offer an assault weapon for sale, one count of illegally offering for sale or selling assault weapons and 18 counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon.

Like Kovac and the officers he sold to, Wolff had ties to law enforcement. Although he lives and works in Los Angeles County, he has served as a reserve officer for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Wolff was dismissed from the department Dec. 11, one day after the raid on his home, said agency spokesman Jim Amormino. Amormino declined to say what caused his dismissal.

Wolff’s reserve position did not allow him to make arrests or carry a gun. He was, however, given a special reserve badge emblazoned with the county’s insignia.

Wolff sat on a panel of volunteers that reviewed the Sheriff’s Department’s firearms policies and was in charge of developing a class for the public in gun safety.

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Times staff writers Jack Leonard and Beth Shuster contributed to this report.