Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

DAYTON, OHIO – A federal grand jury has indicted Eric A. Spicer, 44, of Beavercreek, Ohio, charging him with using fraudulent and forged documents to obtain a machine gun illegally. Spicer formerly held the rank of major with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Michael Boxler, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Columbus Field Division (ATF), announced the indictment returned today.

The seven-count indictment alleges that Spicer forged the Greene County Sheriff’s name on documents he provided to a firearms dealer in New York in 2009. The documents claimed that the machine gun would be used for official law enforcement purposes. The ATF began investigating Spicer, executed a search warrant at his home in March 2014 and seized the machine gun. At the time of the search, Spicer told the ATF that he was a sworn and commissioned police officer of the Jackson Township Police Department.

The indictment charges Spicer with one count each of illegal possession of a machine gun, making a false statement to a law enforcement official, making a false statement in conjunction with the purchase of a firearm, possession of an unregistered firearm, and possession of a firearm transferred in violation of the National firearms Act. He is charged with two counts of making a false entry on an application to acquire a firearm.

Making a false statement to a law enforcement official is punishable by up to five years in prison. All other counts carry a possible punishment of ten years’ imprisonment.

Spicer will be summoned to appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for an initial appearance on the charges.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation by ATF agents and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Keller, who is prosecuting the case. Stewart also acknowledged the cooperation of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office during the investigation, and the assistance of the Beavercreek Police Department during the search of Spicer’s residence.

An indictment is a formal accusation and is not proof of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent until and unless they are found guilty.

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