Whittier Man Arrested on Federal Criminal Complaint Charging Him with Possessing Illegal Machine Guns
LOS ANGELES – A Whittier man has been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with illegal possession of machine guns today.
A federal search warrant served yesterday at the Whittier residence of Patrick C. Ingala, 62, resulted in the seizure of an AR-type short-barreled rifle, five Glock conversion devices or “switches,” and 53 firearms by law enforcement. The conversion devices alter semi-automatic Glock pistols into fully automatic machine guns.
In November 2018, Ingala ordered the conversion devices from a manufacturing company based in China and the items were delivered to his residence, according to the federal affidavit.
“Since March of this year, ATF partnering with federal and local law enforcement, have seized dozens of these switches,” said Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Los Angeles Field Division Special Agent in Charge Carlos A. Canino. “In addition to taking these machine guns off the street, we have seized National Firearms Act weapons such as silencers, short-barreled rifles and other types of machine guns when recovering these conversion devices. ATF works diligently to stop firearm trafficking schemes so firearms do not end up in in the hands of criminals.”
ATF is also working with Customs and Border Patrol to identify conversion devices as they come into U.S. ports.
This matter was investigated by the ATF along with Homeland Security Investigations, the Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney MiRi Song of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Ingala was scheduled to make his initial court appearance at 2 p.m. today at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Los Angeles.
For more information on additional investigations follow ATF LAFD on Twitter @LosAngelesATF.
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