James William McMichael, Unregistered Machine Gun Possession, PA 2016

A 72-year-old former firearms dealer built and concealed a fully functional machinegun in the ceiling of his Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, home — a weapon never registered to him under federal law, court records reveal.

James William McMichael pleaded guilty on January 24, 2016, in federal court to a single count of possessing an unregistered machinegun, a violation of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song confirmed today.

According to court filings, McMichael, once federally licensed to sell firearms, ordered component parts that were later assembled into a working automatic weapon. Rather than register it, he stashed the illegal firearm in the ceiling of his residence — out of sight, but not out of reach of federal investigators.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini, who emphasized the seriousness of unauthorized machinegun possession, particularly by someone with McMichael’s background in the legal firearms trade.

U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone has scheduled sentencing for June 5, 2017. McMichael faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or both. The final sentence will reflect the offense’s severity and any prior criminal history.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Port Allegany Police Department jointly investigated the case, culminating in McMichael’s guilty plea and the dismantling of a hidden threat in rural Pennsylvania.