Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Local Man Convicted at Trial Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing Machine ‘Ghost Gun’
CINCINNATI – Jesse Carter, 32, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 84 months in prison for illegally possessing a fully-automatic weapon and possessing a pistol and ammunition after previously being convicted of a felony.
A federal jury found Carter guilty following a trial in May 2022 before U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole.
According to court documents and trial testimony, in March 2020, Carter illegally possessed a pistol, a fully-automatic weapon and more than 400 rounds of ammunition.
The fully-automatic weapon was an AR-style “ghost gun” with no markings. Ghost guns are often assembled from kits, do not contain serial numbers, and are sold without background checks, making them difficult to trace. In April 2022, the Department of Justice announced a new rule modernizing the definition of firearms to make ghost gun kits subject to the same regulations as traditional firearms.
The Government presented at trial that Carter referred to the ghost gun as “the big one” in jail calls in which he described the location of the ghost gun, which had been concealed behind the sub-woofer in his car.
Carter was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2020.
Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), announced the sentence imposed today by Judge Cole. Assistant United States Attorney Ebunoluwa Taiwo and Special Assistant United States Attorney Meagan W. Myers of the Cincinnati City Solicitor’s Office are representing the United States in this case.