OPINION
Long appeals from his conviction after a jury trial on two counts of making false statements in the acquisition of firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. sections 922(a)(6) and 924(a). We affirm.
On February 25, 1974, Long’s wife contacted the F.B.I. through her attorney and requested an interview. The *661 next day she met with an agent and related that she had left the home which she shared with her husband because she feared for her safety and was fearful of becoming involved in violations of the law. 1 According to Mrs. Long, Mr. Long had taken her to the homes of two federal judges in Phoenix, Arizona and told her that he was going to arrange for their deaths. She also credited statements to him that he had been buying up guns in Phoenix and that he was storing explosives in their house.
On March 26, 1974, Mrs. Long went to her home with F.B.I. agents and signed a consent form allowing the agents to search the house. At the same time she took some of her own possessions from the house. The keys which Mrs. Long had for the house no longer fit the locks and so entrance was gained by removing a window in a storage building next to the house. In the storage building the agents noted a .357 magnum firearm hanging on a wall. The serial number was copied by the agent and the gun was traced to a Phoenix pawnshop. Upon investigation, the F.B.I. learned that the gun had been purchased by Long using the name Roy Smith. Long had bribed the salesman at the store to allow him to obtain the gun under the false name. It was also discovered that Long had purchased another pistol at the same time, this one was a .44 revolver.
Based on this information, a search warrant was obtained and the house was searched on April 8, 1974, but no guns were found. On April 9, Mrs. Long again accompanied the agents to the house and signed a form consenting to a search. She also retrieved more of her personal possessions from the house at that time. The agents found the .357 and .44 revolvers in the attic under the insulation. Long was then charged with the two violations.
Long first claims that his conviction should be reversed because it is based on evidence which is the product of illegal searches. It is asserted that Mrs. Long could not give a valid consent to search the house because she did not have joint access or control of the house within the meaning of
United States v. Matlock,
Long next argues that he was improperly convicted and sentenced on two counts when the facts only support one offense. He claims that his supplying of false information is only one crime even though he purchased two guns. Since Long was sentenced to consecutive sentences, this is a live issue. In support of his position Long cites a number of cases which held that where interstate transportation of something is forbidden, only one unit of prosecution is present even though the defendant transported more than one prohibited item in the single interstate shipment. 2 However, in those *662 cases the basis on which Congress was legislating was the interstate transportation. Since there was only one instance of interstate movement, it was proper to hold that this was the unit of prosecution which Congress had intended. In the present case the statute makes it unlawful
“for any person in connection with the acquisition ... of any firearm from a licensed dealer . . . knowingly to make any false or fictitious oral or written statement . . . intended or likely to deceive such . . . dealer . with respect to any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale . . . .” 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6).
Long filled out a separate form for each gun and thus gave a false statement in connection with the sale of each one. The unit of prosecution proscribed by Congress was the giving of false information. Since Long gave false information on each separate form for each gun, it is clear that two separate violations of the law occurred and each was a proper unit of prosecution.
Appellant’s next assignment of error arises out of a statement made by the district judge at sentencing. After sentencing Long to the maximum 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine on each count, the judge continued:
“Each of these sentences shall be and is made consecutive — consecutive, not concurrent-consecutive.
“Now, Mr. Long, you have 120 days to apply for a reduction in sentence. If the fine is paid, I might consider a motion to reduce sentence, if made within the 120-day period, to something less than the ten years. I am not saying how much less, because I am confident that you are a danger to the community, that you don’t have sufficient community ties by wife or children any more to keep you out of trouble.”
Relying on
Tate v. Short,
Appellant’s reliance on
Tate
and
Williams
is misplaced. In each of those cases the Court was dealing with a state statute the consequences of which was to impose jail sentences in excess of the penalty otherwise imposed when the defendant could not afford to pay a fine. In the present case, however, the sentence imposed by the district judge was within the statutory limit and was not to be extended because Long could not pay a fine. The judge merely offered to take into consideration the payment of the fine in a hypothetical motion for reduction of sentence. The decision whether to reduce a sentence is within the sound discretion of the trial court.
United States v. Maynard,
We have carefully examined appellant’s numerous other assignments of error addressed to rulings upon evidentiary matters and rejection of appellant’s request to invoke the rule for exclusion of witnesses and conclude that they are without merit. We have also considered each of the arguments presented by appellant in his supplemental pro se brief. We find those arguments to be without merit.
The judgment is affirmed.
Notes
. Mrs. Long did not return to live at the house she formerly shared with her husband. She obtained separate housing, the location of which she kept secret from Mr. Long. However, she left a substantial amount of her personal possessions in the house.
. E. g., Bell v. United States,