Sacramento County law enforcement officers charged with “illegally buying and selling high-powered pistols”

With the grim-faced leadership of Sacramento’s law enforcement community looking on, federal officials described an elaborate scheme Friday that they say involved police and deputies illegally buying and selling dozens of high-powered pistols to make thousands of dollars in profit.

The case, which dates back to the summer of 2011, has ensnared at least four area law enforcement officers, including two Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies [Deputies Ryan McGowan, 31, and Thomas Lu, 42] charged in federal court Friday.