SPRINGFIELD — A Belchertown man who is co-owner of a South Hadley gunsmith shop has pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges over the receipt and possession of unregistered firearms, the making of a firearm, and false or incomplete record keeping.
Max Gaj, 29, has signed a plea agreement with the office of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling and will face sentencing on Jan. 21. His lawyers did not return messages left Monday afternoon.
Federal agents found Gaj, whose business Dark Horse Gunsmithing was a federal firearms licensee, in possession of two unregistered machine guns — one bearing no serial number — and an unregistered shotgun. Those are violations of the National Firearms Act, as was Gaj’s making of a machine gun. Gaj also had two Glock pistols that violated state law, and he falsified and failed to properly maintain records on his firearms.
The charges stemmed from a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives — or ATF — inspection of Dark Horse Gunsmithing in 2018. During the inspection, the ATF said it discovered an unregistered AK 47-type firearm with no serial number, an unregistered “Sten-type machinegun” and a “Glock Switch” machine gun for which Gaj falsified the registration, and two short-barreled shotguns that Gaj had never registered, according to court documents.
“Over the course of the inspection of Dark Horse, ATF determined that Dark Horse had failed to record, or failed to properly record, the acquisition and/or production of approximately 151 firearms,” reads a statement of facts that prosecutors filed in the case.
“Notably, 21 firearms were transferred without any entry being made in the [Acquisition and Disposition Record], making such firearms potentially untraceable. Another 98 firearms were found on site at Dark Horse during the February 2018 inspection with no record of their acquisition in the A&D Record.”
The ATF also found that Dark Horse “failed to properly record the disposition of an additional 29 firearms.” Four of those weapons were listed as having been transferred to Gaj, but he was unable to produce them.
The charges that Gaj pleaded guilty to include possession of unregistered firearms, receipt and possession of National Firearms Act firearms not identified by serial number, and making a firearm in violation of the firearms law. Those carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and up to $250,000 in fines.
Gaj also pleaded guilty to charges that carry smaller sentences: selling firearms in violation of state and local laws; and making false entries in, failing to make appropriate entries in, and failing to properly maintain records as required.
Those carry maximum sentences of fire years in prison and one year in prison, respectively.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.