A Watts man was sentenced this week to nearly four years in federal prison sentence for unlawfully manufacturing and dealing in short-barreled AR-15-style assault rifles and silencers.
Axel Fernando Galvez, 37, pleaded guilty to the two felony firearm offenses in December before U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder.
Prosecutors have recommended that Snyder sentence Galvez to five years behind bars, while the defense is asking for half that term at most.
Galvez admitted that he purchased components for firearms from multiple sellers to disguise the quantity he was buying. He then finished the parts and assembled the assault rifles at a South Los Angeles machine shop where he worked, federal prosecutors said.
Last August, Galvez sold five assault rifles through an intermediary to an undercover operative with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, who he believed was a convicted felon planning to resell the weapons in Egypt and the Philippines, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In further discussions with the undercover operative, Galvez negotiated the sale of another 100 homemade assault rifles, offering a bulk discount, prosecutors said.
In a plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court, Galvez also admitted that he manufactured five silencers for firearms.
