Silencer Scandal: Local Man Pleads Guilty to Gun Charge

Midland Resident Pleads Guilty to Possessing Unregistered Silencers

A Midland resident and land surveyor is facing up to ten years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing unregistered silencers.

Steven Leonard Prewit, 54, admitted to illegally possessing eight firearms silencers during a court hearing this afternoon.

According to court records, a search by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of Prewit’s home and a ranch near Balmorhea on May 2, 2013, uncovered the silencers, as well as 18 fully automatic machine guns and four improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Under federal law, individuals are required to register machine guns, destructive devices, and firearm silencers with the ATF National Firearms Act Branch. Prewit admitted to possessing the unregistered firearms and devices, despite knowing he should have registered them.

The investigation into Prewit began in March of this year, after ATF and FBI agents received information that he was in possession of fully automatic machine guns, firearms silencers, and IEDs. An undercover FBI employee was on the ranch with Prewit in March and April 2013, when he saw Prewit in possession of multiple fully automatic machine guns, silencers, and IEDs.

In exchange for Prewit’s guilty plea, the government has agreed to dismiss counts one and two, which involved the possession of the machine guns and explosive devices. Prewit will remain on bond pending his sentencing hearing later this fall. Assistant United States Attorney LaTawn Warsaw is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.