A Fort Mill man has admitted in federal court that he helped move guns from York County into Baltimore, pleading guilty Monday to federal charges that he bought firearms on behalf of a trafficker and sold them so the buyer could run the weapons into the city, prosecutors say. The plea caps an ATF investigation that traced several handguns recovered by law enforcement back to firearm purchases in the Fort Mill area.
Prosecutors say 65-year-old Gregory L. Tischuk acknowledged in court that he bought weapons, then turned around and sold them to a buyer identified in court filings. Text messages filed in the case allegedly show that buyer asking Tischuk for a Glock 27, and investigators say an ATF undercover operation later tied a Glock to those Fort Mill transactions. According to prosecutors, the broader undercover work involved roughly 106 firearms and included a March 21, 2024 undercover purchase of 10 guns in Maryland that agents later traced back to the Fort Mill buys, as reported by WCNC.
Prosecutors' Charging Details
In February, a federal grand jury in South Carolina indicted Tischuk, alleging that in April 2024 he lied on the federal Firearms Transaction Record (Form 4473) by checking the box that said he was buying the firearm for himself even though, prosecutors say, he planned to pass it to someone else. The U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina, notes that the offense carries a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon is prosecuting the case, and the government says Tischuk was released on bond while the case moves toward sentencing, as outlined by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina.
Searches, Seizures and Traced Weapons
Investigators later executed a search warrant at Tischuk's Fort Mill home and seized more than 100 firearms, according to court filings and reporting tied to the plea. ATF tracing linked six firearms back to transactions involving Tischuk, and agents say they recovered a Glock 27 in Baltimore on April 30, 2024 that was connected to the Fort Mill purchases. Those details surfaced in the local coverage of the guilty plea, as reported by WCNC.
Why Authorities Target Straw Purchases
Federal officials say straw purchases, where someone fills out Form 4473 claiming to be the actual buyer while intending to hand the gun to another person, are a common route for weapons to flow into illegal markets and across state lines. ATF's national trafficking assessment describes how many crime guns recovered in big cities were first sold over the counter in other states, and it lays out why undercover buys, tracing work and targeted prosecutions are central tools for cutting off those pipelines. Per the ATF.
Tischuk's guilty plea now clears the way for a sentencing hearing. If a judge decides to impose the statutory maximum, he could face federal prison time, restitution and fines. Prosecutors say the case is part of a larger push by ATF and U.S. attorney's offices to dismantle straw-purchase networks that move retail firearms into violent-crime markets, as outlined by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Carolina.
