KING WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A formerly federally licensed firearms dealer in King William County pleaded guilty on Thursday to falsifying a form for a missing shotgun. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Thomas Christian Berberich pleaded guilty on Thursday, Oct. 3 to making false material statements regarding a missing firearm. Court documents state that, at the time of the offense, Berberich was a federally licensed firearms dealer who owned and operated Pamunkey River Guns, LLC in King William. Berberich has since forfeited that license following this investigation. On March 14, 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) visited Pamunkey River Guns for an inspection. ‘A really, really dumb decision’: Chesterfield Police speak on officer charged with filing false police report after off-duty crash According to the DOJ, a discrepancy was found between Pamunkey River Guns' stock and its acquisition and disposition book: a .410 caliber shotgun with no disposition was unaccounted for in the store. On March 22, 2023, an ATF investigator told Berberich to report the shotgun as lost or stolen and complete an ATF Loss/Theft Form. On April 5, 2023, Berberich reportedly told a co-conspirator to come to the store and complete paperwork for the sale of the missing shotgun. According to the DOJ, this was done two days later. No money was exchanged and the co-conspirator did not receive the shotgun. That same day, he informed the ATF investigator that the shotgun was found in a box in a closet at Pamunkey River Guns on April 6, 2023, and then sold to a customer on April 7, 2023. Alongside the false "sale," Berberich signed an ATF Form 4473 -- or a transaction record. By doing so, Berberich was "certifying that the information on the form was true, correct and complete," according to the DOJ. He later gave a copy of this form to the ATF investigator on April 12, 2023. VIDEO: Armed porch pirate caught on doorbell camera in Chesterfield Berberich is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 5, 2025. The maximum penalty for making false statements is five years in prison -- but the DOJ advises that actual sentences for federal crimes are usually less than that maximum.