Sauk Rapids man, 21, pleads guilty to making, selling "ghost guns"
MINNEAPOLIS – A 21-year-old Sauk Rapids man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of making and selling "ghost guns."
The U.S. Attorney's Office accuses Jay James Olson of "willfully engaging in the business of manufacturing firearms without a license."
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A criminal complaint states Olson made and sold unlicensed and unserialized firearms between the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022.
A confidential informant set up a $20,000 deal with Olson earlier this year to buy 16 ghost guns, as well as a silencer, high-capacity magazines and an auto sear – which turns semi-automatic firearms into fully-automatic weapons.
During negotiations with the informant, Olson told him that "the price for each firearm would be going up because of the federal government's recent initiative targeting ghost guns."
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Olson and the informant met up in Waite Park in late April to make the exchange. Immediately afterwards, law enforcement showed up at the scene, arrested Olson, searched the residence and recovered the illegal items.
Olson's Sauk Rapids home was also searched in May, where investigators found "manufacturing tools, various firearm assembly kits, and a Glock firearm assembly diagram."
Olson's sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.