A Mill Valley man who ran a “ghost gun” factory out of his garage has pleaded guilty to unlicensed manufacturing and dealing of firearms, federal prosecutors announced.
James William Palmer, 38, could face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced in December, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
In his plea agreement, Palmer admitted to illegally building and selling guns between May 2020 and January 2021.
Federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives first came across Palmer’s operation in November 2020, according to a complaint against Palmer. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office was conducting an unrelated investigation into another person, and a search warrant for that person’s phone turned up texts with Palmer that set off ATF’s investigation.
In texts from the previous month, October 2020, Palmer negotiated the sale of a Glock 17 pistol for $780, according to the complaint.
It was the sheriff’s office that searched Palmer’s home and Lexus in January 2021, finding a .45-caliber Glock and two full magazines in the car as well as a single .45-caliber round in Palmer’s pants pocket, according to the complaint. Palmer said he’d paid a $900 premium for the handgun at a gun show two weeks earlier in order to get it faster and without paperwork, but denied knowing that, because of a 2011 assault conviction in San Francisco, it was illegal for him to own a gun.
In Palmer’s garage, investigators discovered “multiple firearm receivers in various stages of completion,” tools for building privately manufactured firearms – known as “ghost guns,” as they are practically untraceable – parts and accessories for firearms, ammunition and a Glock pistol frame, with the serial number removed, according to the complaint.
Sheriff’s deputies also found a fully assembled .45-caliber “Glock style” handgun in the garage, and a round in the chamber, according to the complaint.
There was also a whiteboard in the garage that appeared to be Palmer’s sales ledger, according to the complaint.
Sheriff’s deputies first arrested Palmer that January, and the next month the Marin County District Attorney’s Office filed a slew of firearms-related charges against him, as well as one count of possession of marijuana for sale. That case remains pending.
The federal charges against Palmer were filed seven months later, in August 2021.
Palmer will be sentenced in the federal case Dec. 12, according to a statement from prosecutors. He will remain free at least until his sentencing, which could put him behind bars for a maximum of five years.
“James Palmer accepted responsibility immediately when he was charged – gun laws are inconsistent nationwide and I don’t think he realized how serious his actions were, but the minute he was, he accepted responsibility, at great peril to himself,” said Palmer’s attorney, Anthony Brass, referring to the certainty of a custodial sentence.
Brass said the defense and the government “are in agreement on what the appropriate sentence is, and we are jointly arguing for 30 months” in prison.
Palmer is “not making any excuses for his actions or trying to mitigate them,” Brass said. “He really does understand the seriousness of his actions and that there are going to be serious consequences for him and his family.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com