Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

FRESNO, Calif. — On November 22, 2019, federal authorities arrested Miguel Deniz, 29, of Farmersville, who is charged in a three-count indictment with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of firearms, and possession of a machinegun, United States Attorney McGregor Scott announced. 

Deniz ordered four “auto-sear” devices over the internet to his home address. Auto-sear devices are used to convert semi-automatic firearms to fire as fully automatic machineguns. The package was intercepted by law enforcement, and on May 1, 2019, law enforcement officers conducted a controlled delivery of the package to Deniz’s residence. During a subsequent search executed at the residence, law enforcement officers recovered over a pound of methamphetamine, an AK-style rifle, a Mossberg pump action shotgun, six handguns, eighteen magazines, two handgun silencers, a ballistic vest, thousands of rounds of live ammunition, and firearm accessories. During the search, law enforcement officers also found additional auto-sear devices. Deniz is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Homeland Securities Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the United States Postal Service, and the California Department of Justice. Assistant United States Attorney Katherine Schuh is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Deniz faces a maximum statutory penalty of life years in prison and a $10,000,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.