“Once a gun runner, always a gun runner.”
That’s what 24-year-old Efraim Diveroli told an undercover agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives before he was arrested and charged with possession of firearms as a convicted felon and with possession of firearms while under indictment for a felony offense.
That felony offense? Trying to pass off illegal Chinese-made ammunition to the U.S. government to fulfill a $300 million contract supplying the Afghan Army. His arrest came after an investigation by the New York Times in 2008.
Diveroli was convicted on those charges last year and out awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled for November. But he had a lot of ammunition on his hands that he later told an undercover agent he had been trying to unload for the past few years. So he called up an authorized manufacturer and dealer and offered up ammunition, and suggested they partner up and sell machine guns for profit. He used the company names Advanced Munitions, LOW LLC, AmmoWorks and Pinnacle Minerals Corporation.
At a hearing on Monday in Federal District Court in Orlando, reports the New York Times, he was ordered held without bail in the Orange County Corrections Department. Those initial criminal charges appeared to be intended to detain Diveroli as the investigation into more serious charges remains ongoing.
AEY, Inc., the company that received the $300 million contract from the Army, is still an active Florida corporation, where Diveroli is president and secretary. The principle address is Diveroli’s Miami Beach home.
Diveroli, according to a criminal history inquiry performed by an ATF agent, has a previous arrest for battery and possession of a fake drivers license and two separate DUI arrests.
The 18-page indictment is embedded below.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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