Dec. 14 (UPI) — An Indiana man was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison in connection with a scheme to manufacture untraceable weapons and supply them to the Islamic State.
Moyad Dannon, 25, was sentenced to 200 months Wednesday. His brother and alleged co-conspirator, Mahade Dannon, was sentenced to 20 years in October 2021.
The Justice Department said the brothers made so-called “ghost guns,” largely untraceable firearms that often have 3D-printed components, and wanted to send them to ISIS.
“Between July 2018 and December 2018, the Dannon brothers sold a number of illegally obtained firearms to a cooperating individual,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
“Around the same time period, the Dannon brothers also began to manufacture untraceable ‘ghost guns’ by purchasing firearms parts online and assembling those parts into fully-functioning, .223-caliber semi-automatic rifles, which they sold to an FBI undercover agent,” the department said.
The Biden administration has sought to restrict ghost guns, but new regulations have been mired in legal wrangling.
“Just as we’ve done in the fight against terrorism, the Justice Department is committed to prevention — stopping gun violence before it happens by cracking down on the illegal production and trafficking of ghost guns,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
FBI officials said the weapons were intended for attacks on U.S. targets.
“Working with his brother, the defendant produced large caches of privately made firearms and attempted to place them in the hands of ISIS members overseas to be used against U.S. service members and allies,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said.
