Raid at Johnston home leads to federal gun charges against man
This is a street sign of Everbloom Drive. (WLNE)
JOHNSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — A raid at a Johnston home Thursday led to federal charges against a 27-year-old man.
United State Attorney Zachary Cunha said Friday Alessio Dandrea is accused of having gun silencers and a device that would convert an AR-15 into an automatic weapon at home.
Cunha said Dandrea was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm silencer and unlicensed importation/transportation of a machine gun from foreign commerce.
On June 14, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted a parcel shipped from China addressed to Dandrea, said prosecutors.
Cunha said while inspecting the package, they found that it contained an AR-15 “lightning link” auto sear — which was classified as a machine gun by the ATF.
The National Firearms Act, authorities said, prohibits anyone from having or transferring an unregistered drop-in auto sear.
Federal agents executed a search warrant Thursday at Dandrea’s Everbloom Drive home. There, they seized a total of 27 guns, including shotguns and rifles, and two gun silencers, which Cunha said weren’t registered to the 27-year-old.
Dandrea is scheduled to face a U.S. District Court judge Friday.
