Broken Oath: The trail of drugs, guns, and sex that led to a former public defender’s downfall. That’s the headline over at firstcoastnews.com. It’s your basic tale of a defense lawyer who represented Florida prostitutes in exchange for cocaine. The twist? Tomislav David Golik — a Federal Firearms Licensee (gun dealer) — gave these pimps guns.
“Drug dealing is a dangerous business, especially in Jacksonville. After their interactions with Mr. Golik, they were armed [by Mr. Golik],” said Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives agent Mark Mutz. “These firearms range from the small-caliber pistol to shotguns and into several different types of rifles.“
Mr. Golik is an individual who had a severe drug problem and would trade these firearms to support his drug habit and he would later retrieve the firearms on his own,” Mutz said.
Yeah right. Sure he did. “You know that AR-15 I gave you for my coke? Could I have it back now please?”
Once the ATF had Mr. Golik in their sights, they made him their bitch informant. Guess what happened next?
As his drug problem became more severe, he became unable to retrieve his firearms. Golik and his attorney brokered a deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and ATF. Court records say he became a confidential informant for ATF in May of 2015. Part of the deal included staying sober and telling ATF about guns he placed on the streets of Jacksonville
“After he approached ATF and we worked together to try and recover these firearms, Mr. Golik continued his illegal activities and behaviors,” Mutz said.
Yup, you read right. The ATF let their informant continue providing criminals with firearms. Who then “worked with” the ATF to “try” to recover the guns. And how did that work out?
According to a search warrant obtained by First Coast News, Golik didn’t stay clean and didn’t tell ATF about every gun he had traded, including one gun that turned up at a BP gas station on Philips Highway during a traffic stop.
“We thought we had a good grasp on the firearms on Mr. Golik introduced into the community only to find out that this firearm and others later on,” Mutz said. “It took us off guard and at that point we realized the scope and magnitude of what Mr. Golik had done.“
I wonder how many of Mr. Golik’s post-ATF informant guns were used in violent crime? Like we’ll ever know . . .
Once again, as in the Fast and Furious scandal involving ATF-enabled sales to known Mexican drug cartel members, we have the ATF letting guns “walk” without tracking, supervision or subsequent arrests. A fact that the ATF agents admitted in open court.
“The hardest part is not knowing who the defendants were. At the beginning, we were sort of at the mercy of Mr. Golik to tell us and direct us because only he knew who had the firearms,” says Mutz.
Lawyers for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida wouldn’t comment on this case. But check this comment from ATF Agent Fox:
“This case…it touches everyone in Jax [Jacksonville] and I feel strongly about that. Young woman are being taken advantage of and coerced into prostitution. The individuals that are preying on these ladies and controlling them with drugs are also controlling them with these firearms. And they are using these firearms to control their turf and assert their power in a criminal fashion.”
So the ATF admits that they allowed the gun “loans” to continue.
Clearly, “gunwalking” is standard ATF procedure. How many other cases are there like this across the U.S.A.? It’s high time Congress defunded and disbanded the ATF.