Edgewood Man Exiled to Over Three Years in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Possession of an Unregistered Silencer

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Ronnie Candelario, age 32, of Edgewood, Maryland, today to 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after Candelario pleaded guilty to the possession of an unregistered silencer. 

The guilty plea and sentence were announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr. of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) - Baltimore Field Division; Commissioner Kevin Davis of the Baltimore Police Department; and Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler.

According to his plea agreement, from at least April until June 2016, Candelario manufactured and sold AR-15 style assault rifles in Maryland without a license.  Between April 15 and June 16, 2016, a confidential source working with the ATF purchased six automatic and semi-automatic assault rifles as well as two silencers from Candelario, typically meeting in a gas station parking lot to complete the transactions.  The source told Candelario that the firearms he was purchasing were for resale in New York.  Candelario told the source that he was manufacturing the guns and silencers that he sold and that he had other customers for whom he was manufacturing AR-15 style firearms.  Candelario did not have any guns or silencers registered to him.

On June 22, 2016, ATF agents executed a search warrant at Candelario’s residence in Edgewood and recovered items used to manufacture firearms and silencers, including: boxes of AR-15 lower receivers; a fuel filter with an adapter used in the assembly of silencers; AR-15 magazines and rifle sights with boxes; and vices, a drill press, and other tools.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Harford County Sheriff’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth Clark, who prosecuted the case.