The FBI arrested a Garfield man Wednesday on machine gun possession charges and drug counts during a raid on his apartment, after which he said he offered to modify guns for customers to make them into fully automatic weapons, according to court records.
Jared James Williams appeared in federal court on Wednesday and was ordered detained pending a hearing Friday.
An FBI affidavit says law officers executed a federal search warrant at Williams’ apartment at 5135 Penn Ave. on Wednesday.
They called for him to come out, and he eventually did, after which they took him into custody. Inside, agents found his girlfriend and her infant.
A search turned up a bag in the master bedroom containing Glock switches, conversion devices that can be used to convert a Glock semi-automatic pistol into an automatic. The switches, often made in Russia and China, are defined as machine guns under the National Firearms Act and are illegal for private possession or sale. Across the U.S., the number of guns with switches has increased dramatically in recent years, according to the ATF.
Agents also found multiple extended pistol magazines containing ammo, the FBI said, as well as evidence of drug dealing.
They found a kilo wrapper with cocaine residue and noted a trail of white powder leading to the bathroom next to the bedroom, where they found two guns covered in white powder.
Agents also found methamphetamine and fentanyl and recovered $21,000 in cash, according to the affidavit.
Williams told agents that he was flushing cocaine down the toilet when they showed up. He also admitted that he planned to sell the weapons but hadn’t yet sold any. He said if someone wanted to buy a gun from him and wanted it modified into an automatic, he would charge $500, according to the complaint.
Williams also admitted that he sold cocaine, marijuana and guns to support his family and knew what he was doing was illegal, agents said.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
