A 24-year-old Orlando man who pleaded guilty to possessing unregistered machine guns will spend the next two and a half years behind bars.
On Friday, November 1, U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza sentenced Marcelo Manuel Maysonet to 30 months in federal prison for possession of unregistered National Firearms Act weapons, which includes a machine gun and over a dozen machine gun conversion devices.
A machine gun conversion device is an illegal conversion device that converts a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic one. Under the National Firearms Act, a machine gun conversion device is classified as a machine gun.
Maysonet entered a guilty plea on July 25.
According to court records, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed a search warrant at Maysonet’s residence.
During the search, law enforcement officers discovered a 5.56 caliber AR-style pistol with a machine gun conversion device installed. In addition, they seized a total of 15 machine gun conversion devices from the home.
None of the seized items were registered to Maysonet in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required under federal law.
On November 1, following his sentencing, Maysonet was ordered by the court to forefeit the pistol containing the machine gun conversion device, along with the 15 additional machine gun conversion devices.
This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaley Austin-Aronson.
Additionally, this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence.