TOPEKA -A Kansas man has been sentenced to 52 months in prison for his role in a scheme involving the illegal export of firearms from the United States using a hidden online marketplace, according to Acting Assistant General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Tom Beall of the District of Kansas.
Michael Andrew Ryan, also known as Brad Jones and GunRunner, 36, Manhattan, previously had pleaded guilty to six counts of exporting and attempting to export firearms illegally from the United States to individuals located in other countries on June 6, 2016, and was remanded into custody on October 6, 2016.
In addition to imposing the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree of the District of Kansas ordered Ryan to forfeit all firearms and ammunition seized by law enforcement during the investigation.
In connection with his plea Ryan admitted that he used the hidden internet marketplace Black Market Reloaded, a website hosted on the Tor network where users can traffic anonymously in illegal drugs and other illegal drugs to unlawfully export or attempt to export firearms from the United States to Cork, Ireland; Mallo, Ireland; Pinner, England; Edinburgh, Scotland and Victoria, Australia.
Those goods included dozens of firearms, including pistols, revolvers, UZIs and Glocks, some from which the manufacturer’s serial numbers had been removed, altered or obliterated, as well as magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.