The owner and CEO of Stag Arms LLC in Connecticut has pleaded guilty to federal firearms violations and agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and give up involvement in the firearms business, according to the Hartford Courant.
Mark Malkowski founded Stag Arms LLC and now has to get out of the business. Under a plea agreement which Stag is calling “a resolution with government officials,” the company will also pay a $500,000 fine and forfeit its manufacturing license.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Connecticut, Malkowski could face up to a year in prison. The newspaper said sentencing is scheduled March 15.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said, among other things, “Many of the record-keeping violations that were uncovered were similar to violations for which STAG was cited in 2007.
“For example,” the statement continued, “inspectors discovered more than 3000 un-serialized receivers on the premises without any record of their manufacture or acquisition, and more than 3000 firearms that were transferred by STAG without properly being recorded. Inspectors were able to reconcile the majority of these transfers from other paperwork on site, but found more than 300 instances in which the disposition of the firearms could not be reconciled. To date, approximately 200 firearms are reported as lost or stolen.”
The company issued a statement on Dec. 22:
“Stag Arms, LLC today announced that the company and its founder, Mark Malkowski, have reached a resolution with government officials stemming from an investigation that began last year relating primarily to the timing of recordkeeping during the manufacturing process and compliance with federal firearms manufacturing and registration requirements.
“Both Stag Arms and Mr. Malkowski cooperated fully with the government throughout the investigation. While both Stag Arms and Mr. Malkowski believe that public safety was never compromised, they have agreed to enter guilty pleas and to pay significant fines, because doing so is in the best interests of the company and its employees. Mr. Malkowski has also agreed to transition the business to new ownership and is in advanced talks with a potential buyer.
“Mr. Malkowski will continue as a marketing consultant to the business and the industry for a period of time following the sale. Stag Arms takes its obligations to comply with all laws and regulations very seriously and has made comprehensive changes to ensure that similar problems cannot happen again and that best compliance practices are maintained in all of its operations.”
In July 2014, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted a compliance inspection of Stag Arms plants in New Britain, the newspaper reported. They reportedly discovered that more than 3,000 lower receivers had not been properly registered. Stag manufactures AR-type rifles.
Earlier this year, the Hartford Courant reported that in September 2014, the BATF obtained a search and seizure warrant and took several receivers as evidence, along with computers and records.
Newspaper accounts said Malkowski at the time explained that the receivers had not been numbered because the employee responsible for that function had been on vacation.
BATF agents also reportedly found 62 full-auto machine guns or machine gun receivers that were not registered, or had been registered elsewhere, the story noted. Another allegation was that three machine guns had been discovered on which the serial numbers had been “intentionally obliterated, or scratched out.”
“The possession, by private citizens, of machine guns manufactured after 1986 is prohibited,” the U.S. Attorney’s office press release noted, “and licensed manufacturers of machine guns are required to stamp a unique serial number on each machine gun and register it with ATF within one business day of manufacture. It is a violation of federal law for a licensed manufacturer to fail to mark a firearm with a serial number and for anyone to tamper with a firearm serial number or possess a firearm with an obliterated serial number. It is also against the law for anyone to possess a machine gun that is not registered to them.”
The Courant’s coverage quoted the company saying that “Stag has made comprehensive changes to ensure that similar problems cannot happen again and that best compliance practices are maintained in all of its operations.”
Stag Arms is for sale.
