Shropshire gun runner gets 10 years for USA plot

A former US marine from Shropshire, who worked as a bodyguard for Madonna, was today jailed for 10 years for smuggling guns into the UK on commercial flights.

Steven Greenoe, aged 37, who lived in St George's Street, Frankwell, Shrewsbury, bought weapons from gun shops in the US, broke them down into their parts and smuggled them into Britain in his luggage.

Greenoe and an accomplice then sold them to criminal gangs for more than ten times their face value.

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He was sentenced to 10 years at a federal court in Greenville, North Carolina, followed by three years supervision on his release.

Greenoe, who worked as a security guard to Madonna and stars including Matt Damon and George Clooney on the film Oceans 12, was caught in July 2010 at Raleigh Durham International Airport in North Carolina when an arsenal of 16 lethal weapons was discovered in his suitcase.

At the time of the offences, the US citizen had "indefinite leave to remain in the UK" because his then wife, Elizabeth, is British and lived in Shrewsbury.

The couple are now divorced but she still lives in the town.

In November, Steven Cardwell, aged 31, from Liverpool, was given an indeterminate jail sentence following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court after he obtained scores of smuggled guns from Greenoe and then sold them on to UK criminals.

United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker said: "This was an international investigation into illegal firearms trafficking and firearms smuggling, which poses a danger to the public, and our office will prosecute such cases vigorously."

Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and the Carolinas, said: "By seeking to circumvent both US and UK laws, Mr Greenoe has potentially put the safety of countless law-abiding British citizens at risk.

"Thanks to investigative assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Mr Greenoe will now be held accountable for his crimes."

The trial in Liverpool heard that weapons linked to the conspiracy were used in at least one fatal shooting in the UK.

Undercover police officers in Liverpool also bought three Glock handguns for £3,600 apiece.

Greenoe paid just £300 for each of those weapons in America. In October last year a 24-year-old man suffered a bullet wound to the leg during a drive-by shooting in Wythenshawe, Manchester.

The gun used in the shooting was never found but cartridges at the scene matched guns bought by Greenoe in America, the trial heard.

Another weapon, a "composite firearm" used in the attempted robbery of a Liverpool taxi driver last March, was forensically matched to two guns purchased by Greenoe in America.

Greenoe was described by police as a "Walter Mitty" character.

Giving evidence in Cardwell's trial, his ex-wife Elizabeth told the jury of Greenoe's glamorous lifestyle as a bodyguard to A-list celebrities. While working in Paris and Amsterdam, he provided security services for the Hollywood movie Oceans 12, Mrs Greenoe revealed.

She said she saw photographs of him in the company of stars including George Clooney, Matt Damon and Madonna, which had been posted on his Facebook page.

During a period in the South of France in 2005 and 2006 he was also employed in "maritime security", protecting the yachts of the world's super rich.

However, his pedigree as a soldier was thrown into doubt when certificates were discovered after his arrest which appeared to contradict his claim to be a captain in the US Marines Corps. One suggested he never rose above the rank of lance corporal in an administrative role.

Mrs Greenoe said her former husband also claimed to have worked for Nato and served in the French Foreign Legion.

By Chris Burn