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Montgomery County man convicted for making ‘ghost guns’
A Montgomery County man who authorities call a domestic arms dealer was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday. Investigators said Charlie Kessler was making “ghost guns” and selling them to criminals.
ROCKVILLE, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - A Montgomery County man who authorities call a domestic arms dealer was sentenced to nine years in prison Monday. Investigators said Charlie Kessler was making “ghost guns” and selling them to criminals.
“There are dozens and dozens of guns involved here, bullets and ammunition by the bucket loads,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Tuesday.
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The weapons are called ghost guns because they’re untraceable, typically built from gun parts that don’t have serial numbers and are readily available online.
“These guns were being manufactured in the four corners section of silver spring in Montgomery County,” McCarthy said. “I don’t think anybody that lived in that neighborhood would have any idea that the basement of an adjoining house had been made into a gun factory.”
Ultimately, Kessler pleaded guilty to six different charges. While he was technically sentenced to 40 years in prison, all but nine of those years were suspended.
“This is the first time we’ve had someone on a larger scale being involved as basically a manufacturer, producer of guns that were then being widely distributed to people to go out and commit crime,” McCarthy added.