Former lt. gets prison for having machine guns

[unhappycamper]

Former lt. gets prison for having machine guns
By Todd Richmond - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 21:46:46 EST

MADISON, Wis. — A federal judge sentenced a former Navy supply officer to three years and 10 months in prison Tuesday for possessing dozens of machine guns.

David Carmel, 32, of Gilman told U.S. District Judge John Shabaz he was a harmless weapons collector. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Przybylinski Finn countered he thought he was above the law.

“He decided it was OK for him to have an arsenal on his property,” Przybylinski Finn said. “He had weapons he wasn’t supposed to have. He knew it.”

Shabaz said he couldn’t believe one person could amass so many weapons that could have fallen into the wrong hands.

“What mission was the defendant pursuing by being this collector of dangerous items that could be used by others?” Shabaz said.

Prosecutors charged Carmel in June with illegally possessing 60 machine guns, although Przybylinski Finn said investigators believe they found closer to 70 machine guns on the rural property Carmel shared with his parents.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_carmelprison_071127/