Guilty plea could be coming in attorney gun charge

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A Wauwatosa attorney facing felony gun charges could plead guilty early next year.

Sole practitioner Thomas M. Barrett was arrested Aug. 12 and charged with paying $400 to allegedly purchase stolen guns and illegal possession of a silencer. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison and an additional three years of supervision.

On Monday, Barrett appeared in Judge Charles Kahn’s court with defense attorney Allison Ritter of Ritter & Fernandez LLP, in Milwaukee to schedule a plea date.

According to Ritter, Barrett will be back in court at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 2 for a “possible guilty plea.”

But Ritter said that determination has yet to be made, pending the outcome of ongoing discovery in the case.

“I have to continue my investigation of the facts,” she said. “I can’t say whether he is going to plead guilty or not.”

Barrett declined to comment on Monday and prosecuting attorney Megan Williamson would only confirm the date of the February hearing, which was determined off the record in court.

According to court documents, Barrett was arrested Aug. 12 in the Mayfair Mall parking lot in Wauwatosa after purchasing two functional “prop guns” – a semiautomatic .22 caliber High Standard Sportking gun with a silencer attached and a 9 mm Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun.

According to court documents, an informant notified police that Barrett was a known gun collector and the Mayfair meeting and subsequent transaction was arranged at a predetermined location.

According to court documents, Barrett inspected the firearms and stated that one of the guns was “highly, highly, highly, highly illegal” and was a “Hitman’s gun.”

In an on-scene Miranda statement, Barrett admitted to arresting officer Dean Newport that he had 15 to 20 collector guns at home in safes, according to court documents.

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