POLK COUNTY, FL. – A 48-year-old Haines City man was sentenced to federal prison for selling machine gun parts on Facebook.
U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway sentenced Marc Anthony Hayes, 48, Haines City, to three years in federal prison for possessing 3D printed auto sear devices. Hayes had pleaded guilty on November 3, 2021.
According to court documents, between January 12 and 30, 2021, Hayes engaged in the unlawful possession and sale of seven auto sear devices (a device used to convert a semi-automatic firearm to fully automatic firing mode).
Hayes coordinated the sales through Facebook instant messages.
A firearms expert with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s (ATF) Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) forensically analyzed the auto sears and found that the devices were 3D printed, meaning the devices had been manufactured using a 3D printing device.
The ATF FATD expert also tested the functionality of the auto sears by installing each device into a semiautomatic AR-15 type rifle. When installed, the device caused the rifle to function as an automatic machinegun. Thus, the auto sears were found to be parts designed and intended solely and exclusively for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun.
On June 30, 2021, ATF special agents executed a search warrant at Hayes’s residence and seized two auto sears, a silencer, and a short-barreled rifle. The auto sears were test-fired and found to function as machine guns.
ATF also examined the silencer and short-barreled rifle, which were found to meet the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFA) registration guidelines. Hayes was found to be in violation of NFA registration requirements.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.
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