Philip Nelson Elliott, Selling Firearms to a Prohibited Person, North Carolina 2015

Felony Gun Salesman Sentenced to 2.5 years in Prison in North Carolina

A Macon County federal firearms licensee has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for selling firearms to a prohibited person, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Philip Nelson Elliott, 55, of Franklin, N.C., was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. to serve three years under court supervision following his prison term. The crime took place from March to July 2014 in Ashevile, North Carolina.

Elliott was a federal firearms licensee who operated ‘Mountain Top Coins, Guns and Ammo’ (Mountain Top), a firearms business located in Franklin. Court records show that Elliott’s brother, Donald Eugene Elliott, also worked at Mountain Top. Elliott sold multiple firearms to a convicted felon and was therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm.

According to court records, Elliott discussed selling the felon rocket-propelled grenade launchers and told the felon he was willing to buy stolen goods, including stolen firearms. While executing a search warrant at Mountain Top, ATF agents seized approximately 20 firearms in the store which were ‘off the books,’ meaning they were not included in the ATF Acquisition and Disposition Records as required of federal firearms licensees.

Elliott pleaded guilty in July 2015 to one count of selling a firearm to a prohibited person. His brother, Donald Eugene Elliott, pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced in December 2015 to six months in prison and two years of supervised release.

The investigation was handled by ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

Defendant: Philip Nelson Elliott
Crimes: Selling a firearm to a prohibited person
City and state: Franklin, North Carolina
Date: July 2014 to March 2014
Sentence: 30-month prison term and three years under court supervision
Amount: None mentioned in the source.

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