This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A federal jury convicted a Utah businessman Friday for selling $10 million worth of firearms without a license.
Adam Michael Webber, who operates HK Parts — an online resale site for rifles and pistols, was found guilty of one count of dealing in firearms without a license and five counts of filing false tax returns, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office in Utah. He faces up to five years in prison for the firearms offense and up to three years for each tax breach, as well as a period of supervised release and fines. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 1.
Webber purportedly sold about 2,000 firearms from the website and his basement, beginning in 2007. From 2009 to May 2012, the release states, Webber also dealt the weapons under "the auspices of a company owned by another Utah resident." During that time, he twice sold firearms to undercover agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms an Explosives. He was barred from applying for a federal firearms license and dealing weapons after a 2007 agreement with the federal government.
Webber was indicted in 2014 on the charges, which initially included counts for smuggling arms.
Between 2007 and 2010, Webber collected more than $10 million from the sales, the release states, but "reported only a total of $183,397 in gross receipts" on tax forms.
A phone message left at Webber's business was not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.
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