Three men have been arraigned on federal charges of dealing firearms without a license, possession of machine guns, possession of unregistered firearms, and conspiracy.
Jelani Kazmende, 38, of Marietta, Wiley Martin, 42, of Acworth, and Robert Louis Jeffords, Jr., 62, of Forest City, N.C., were arraigned before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard.
“Equipped with large capacity magazines, illegal machine guns like those allegedly transported, possessed, and sold by these defendants present immediate danger to our community,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “To protect the community, this office and its partners will identify, target, and prosecute to the fullest extent those who peddle these weapons unlawfully.”
According to information presented in court, on June 2, outside of a restaurant in Marietta, Kazmende allegedly provided five privately manufactured “ghost guns” to Wiley Martin, a multi-convicted felon who was then serving a term of state probation. “Ghost guns” refers to firearms, including a frame or receiver, completed, assembled, or otherwise produced by a person other than a licensed manufacturer, and without a serial number placed by a licensed manufacturer at the time the firearm was produced.
The firearms that Kazmende allegedly gave to Martin lacked any genuine manufacturer’s makings or legitimate serial numbers. Inside of each firearm was a drop-in “auto sear device” designed to allow the firearms to fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger. Following his receipt of the firearms, Martin sold all five weapons – and a sixth full-auto pistol – to undercover FBI agents.
On June 16, Kazmende and Martin met Robert Louis Jeffords, Jr., outside of the same turkey leg restaurant where Kazmende and Martin met two weeks prior. Kazmende, Martin, and Jeffords removed from Jeffords’ truck 16 privately manufactured firearms chambered in various calibers.
Separately, Jeffords carried 17 drop-in auto sear devices into the restaurant. Once the firearms had been converted to fire automatically, Martin intended to sell the guns to the undercover FBI agents again. However, before the transaction could be attempted, law enforcement officers surrounded the restaurant and arrested all three defendants. They also recovered each of the guns and auto sear devices.
– U.S. Attorney’s Office