SALT LAKE CITY — A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a Salt Lake man who illegally imported and sold devices to convert semi-automatic handguns into machine guns.
Gary Mark Hill, 42, was found guilty of unlawfully engaging in the business of importing and dealing machine guns and illegal possession and transfer of machine guns. The verdict followed a four-day trial and less than two hours of deliberation.
The former investment banker is accused of importing and selling the conversion devices for Glock handguns without having paid a special occupational tax and without having registered — both required under federal law — in 2017. Under federal law, the devices are considered machine guns.
Hill bought the devices “at bargain prices” from China, then “knowingly sold them on Utah’s street corners at a steep markup,” said U.S. Attorney John Huber on Wednesday.
“In this day and age, there are few transactions more dangerous than an anonymous and unregulated exchange of cash for machine guns,” Huber said. “This intentional conduct showed a reckless disregard for our safety at its best, and certainly exposed Utah to risks that the community should not have to bear.”
Hill was arrested after selling the illegal devices to undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on three different occasions in February and March of 2017. Agents later found five more devices in his home and six more devices in his car.
He faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the two conviction counts. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 5.