Montgomery County Man Sentenced to 30 Months for Unlawfully Selling “Ghost Guns”

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Michael Castelluccio, age 43, of Fultonville, New York, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release, for unlawfully transferring an unregistered short-barreled rifle that had machinegun capability.

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

On November 5, 2020, Castelluccio pled guilty to one count of unlawful transfer of unregistered firearms.  As part of his guilty plea, Castelluccio admitted that over the course of four transactions between August and September 2019, he built, sold and transferred 19 firearms from component parts ordered online. These firearms are commonly known as “ghost guns” because they do not have serial numbers, which makes them difficult for law enforcement to trace.

Castelluccio admitted to building, selling, and transferring short-barreled rifles, which are rifles with barrels less than 16 inches long.  Castelluccio admitted to doing so without having filed an application with or received approval from the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, or paying the tax required by federal law. He also admitted that one of the firearms he sold was modified to allow it to automatically shoot more than one shot by a single function of its trigger. 

Castelluccio also forfeited a pickup truck that he used to transport the firearms.

This case was investigated by the ATF and Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the Schenectady County and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Offices. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Wentworth-Ping.

This case is 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.