Richard Wyatt, former star of “American Guns.”
The Discovery Channel has had poor luck in recent years picking stars for its gun-related reality television shows.
Earlier this month a judge ruled that “Sons of Guns” star Will Hayden will be facing multiple sexual assault allegations in his upcoming trial.
Now the Denver Post is reporting that Richard Wyatt, the star of a different Discovery Channel show called “American Guns,” has been convicted of 10 felony counts, including tax evasion and selling firearms without a license.
Wyatt could face up to 15 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of failing to report $1.1 million in income to the IRS and dealing firearms under a straw license through another gun store.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives forced Wyatt to relinquish his Federal Firearms License in 2009 after he violated “serious licensing rules,” according to the Post.
But Wyatt continued to sell guns through another local gun shop called Triggers. Customers would choose their firearm at Wyatt’s store and travel to Triggers to complete a criminal background check and to pick up their guns.
When Triggers lost its FFL, Wyatt set up the same scheme through other local gun stores.
Despite Wyatt’s FFL status, he agreed in 2011 to a $500,000 contract with the Discovery Channel to star in “American Guns,” a show that would document the goings-on at Gunsmoke, Wyatt’s store. It isn’t clear whether the television network knew Wyatt was not legally permitted to sell firearms.
In either case, the show billed Gunsmoke as one of the finest gun shops in the world.
ATF agents busted Wyatt after purchasing four guns from Gunsmoke on three occasions.
Wyatt’s tax situation wasn’t much better. The Post reports that Wyatt failed to pay taxes in 2009 when he made $290,000; in 2010 when he made $123,000; and in 2012 when he made $689,000, according to a court records.
Wyatt’s attorney, Mark Johnson, claimed that while his client was a poor bookkeeper, he never had any criminal intent. “His books were a disaster. He was a horrible bookkeeper,” Johnson said.
But, according to the attorney, when Wyatt signed the contract with the Discovery Channel, he immediately hired an accountant to handle his finances.
As to the firearms charges, Johnson pointed out that Wyatt always made sure his customers completed background checks.
“The only people who bought guns were entitled to buy a weapon,” Johnson said.
Wyatt’s sentencing will take place at a later date.
Wyatt has never owed one cent to the I.R.S. because the I.R.S. has no jurisdiction to tax any American outside of the District of Columbia, 4 U.S.C. 72. Read the statute folks and you’ll see for yourself that even YOU have never been subject to the Federal income tax by the I.R.S. The I.R.S. operates under ” color of law ” if you know what that means.
I tend to have mixed feelings about fun shows. They are super interesting but I can’t stand the owners who act like they are a SPECOPS badass because they have a gun store. Dudes like that are simply gun enthusiasts like many other people.
This show was creepy with the dude pimping out his daughter on screen and seeing the wife try and one up the daughter on clothes.
I meant gun show. Stupid autocorrect.
So federal agencies do a fantastic job on this case, exposing a law-breaker and his crimes, but they can’t do a damn thing about Hillary Clintons’ scandals. And of course there is that little “Fast and Furious” scheme, in which our own federal government illegally sold weapons to criminals of Mexican drug cartels with ties to actual murders using such weapons…..
Good job Feds….go after the easy targets that won’t fight back like this TV star. Hardened criminals that might put up a fight – including criminals in our own government – yeah, just ignore them…they’re too much work.
And they wonder why American citizens have such a low opinion of their own government.
“Reality TV” is a misnomer. Reality stops when the camera starts. I don’t watch any of them for that reason.
Like others, I left Gunsmoke with a foul taste in my mouth.
I had a Ruger revolver with a couple of way too tight throats, and they wanted $50 a hole to fix it.
The damn ream is only $119!
I had another local fella recommended by the SASS guys do the work, for $15 a hole.
The gunsmoke guy told me 5 weeks, the other fella had it done in 6 days.
My default position on ‘reality” shows is PHONY. With the except of Deadliest Catch, which sometimes created situations for the film crew, Every reality show demonstrates within a few episodes how it’s anything but reality. Many times you see people who look like they were sent over from central casting. Ultimately, like a pathologic liar, they become so over played in order to keep the fans entertained.
IMHO the reason these phonies are cast is a disregard of their past, much of which could be found with a simple Google search.
I was in Denver doing contract work in 2013, and dropped my Star .380 SS off at their store for “rework, refurbishment, overhaul”. The weapon was a gift prior to my military service, and I carried it as a back up in the shit to be used, if able, as my last defense just before I died. I survived…so did the .380, but it was the worse for wear and fter my return from war was put away in a drawer.
They had my weapon for 15 months. They told me the rework would be completed in 90 days when I made the deal with them. Every time I called there was an excuse as to the delay…and then they had the balls to jack the previously agreed on “rework” price up a few dollars. I begrudgingly agreed. Why? I was no longer in Denver (at home in the east) and they had my weapon that had sentimental value to me…and by now I knew of their perceived corruption and I knew my weapon /could be “lost”.
Fifteen months later (March 2015) they completed the work. The .380 looked new and functioned as advertised. I cleaned and oiled it after test firing and placed it in the safe…occasionally cleaning/oiling again and placing it back in the safe.
Cost? An outrageous $325.00, when the agreed on price for refurbishment was $175.00.
It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree… as I always dealt with his son. I still feel sort of “dirty” having to deal with scum.
I have personal experience with Rich and know several others who have also had professional and peraonal experience with him as well. Rich wyatt is a scum bag! Honestly he is a con artist… his gun smith shop is also a con. All gins have pricetags but non are for sale?… he nor his shop could not fix the rib on a citori that was bent ant made it much worse, denting the barrel and bulging the rib. Just ask Stu (stue?) The water man. When tapping the top of a bolt gun my friend owned, the bolt was left in the rifel and the hole went about 1/8 inch into the bolt.
My understanding is that he had plans to bring colt to colorado but failed and has been in legal limbo with the feds since then and he has enough money to stay in limbo till death. He is a cancer to the 2A community.
How can these guys be soooooo stupid and get a TV show?
A Pervert & A Tax dodger , DUH??????????????
She wont be his wife for long. When the money runs out, the honey will run out.
Sure gonna miss seeing Phred!
Ummm…. Pared is on wild west guns in Alaska, this is Gunsmoke in colorado….
We, as a community, are always talking about “just actually enforce existing laws and put some teeth in them” as a response to new gun laws. When they do enforce them we should stand behind the decision.
We’re talking about laws related to actions that are naturally a crime, like using a firearm to hurt another person without justification. Income tax isn’t a just tax, and you shouldn’t need an FFL to sell firearms. This guy did nothing wrong – he just landed on the wrong side of big government, the BATFE (an agency that shouldn’t rightfully exist), and a billion miles of red tape intended to keep good people from being able to sell firearms.
Both the IRS and the ATF need to be “de-weaponized”…..by bastard politicians
the dudes still a crook
Stupid is, as stupid does! What an idiot!!!!!!!!
The BATFE and the IRS did their jobs, now its time for Rick Wyatt to do some time. Wonder what mom and the kids are going to do to make a living?
Show off their boobs 😱
Well, I’d buy that for a dollar!
Hmmm. Owes IRS about 300K and he gets arrested. Meanwhile, over on MSNBC, it is my understanding that Al still owes us over five million bucks, and he stays on TV. Hmmmm.
You hit the nail on the head. The IRS is the collection arm of the Federal Reserve Bank. Every year at tax time they find a few celebrity sacrificial lambs to prosecute to keep the sheeple in line. The IRS is rife with progressive Marxist as we saw in their dealings with tea party groups, and they relish that it is someone involved in forearms. Al, Hillary and their ilk are one of them and will never be prosecuted
All I can say is ” bless his cotton picking heart” other words dumb butt!
The best part of that show was the genetic transfer of DNA from his lovely wife to their daughter….
Both the wife and daughter, hotter than a fresh-f*cked fox in a forest fire
What the hell is the matter with you RetNavet? … this guy might be technically wrong, but WHY do you feel justified in attacking his family? What if it were YOUR family other people were bad mouthing. A change in name from RegNavet to DkHead wouldn’t be a bad idea …. DkHead
George’s reading comprehension is on point. He insulted no one, he used colorful language to call them beautiful.
And that’s his step daughter!