Phoenix Man Sentenced To 37 Months For Selling Machine Gun to Undercover Agent

Carlos Negrete Farias, 27, of Phoenix, was sentenced on October 2, 2023, by United States District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to 37 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release. Farias pleaded guilty on February 8, 2023, to Possession of a Machine Gun.

On January 31, 2022, Farias agreed to provide an Undercover Agent (UC) a “fun AR” and $3,000.00 in exchange for a .50 caliber rifle. Subsequently, Farias sent the UC a video of an unknown individual shooting a fully automatic AR-15 style rifle.

Farias was arrested on February 8, 2022, during an exchange with the UC. At the time of his arrest, Farias was found with a machine gun conversion device in his pocket, knowing that it was a part designed and intended for use in converting a semi-automatic weapon into a machinegun.

This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.