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Press Release

Arizona Man Pleads Guilty To Engaging In The Business Of Manufacturing Ammunition Without A License

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nevada
Joint Investigation Determined the Defendant Sold Ammunition to the Shooter Responsible for the October 2017 Tragedy in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Douglas Haig, 57, of Mesa, Arizona, pleaded guilty today to engaging in the business of manufacturing ammunition without a license, U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada, Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI’s Las Vegas Division, and Special Agent in Charge Ray Roundtree of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced.

According to court documents, from about July 2016 to about October 19, 2017, Haig operated an unlicensed ammunition manufacturing business known as Specialized Military Ammunition (SMA). SMA’s manufacturing was conducted in a workshop located in Haig’s Arizona residence. Haig maintained a website for SMA through which he advertised and sold ammunition that he manufactured. He promoted and sold ammunition he manufactured at gun shows in Arizona and other states. He traveled to at least one gun show in Nevada where he sold ammunition he manufactured, and, on multiple occasions, he shipped ammunition that he manufactured to customers in Nevada. Haig operated the ammunition manufacturing business despite knowing that federal firearms law required a license for such activity.

The case arose out of the joint investigation by the FBI and ATF with assistance from the Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, of the October 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas. The Cybercrime Lab within the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section also provided important assistance to the investigation and prosecution of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Burns and Tony Lopez are prosecuting the case.

Haig is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan on February 19, 2020. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 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.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Haig on August 22, 2018.

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Updated November 19, 2019

Topic
Firearms Offenses
Component