by Darlene J. Taylor
STAFF WRITER
CLARKSBURG -- A Grafton man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Clarksburg on 386 charges involving the manufacture and sale of machine guns.
Michael J. Kelly Sr., of Grafton, who operated under the name of M-K Specialties, MKS and M-K Specialties Inc., from various locations, could face more than 2,000 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Taylor County Prosecuting Attorney John Bord said he received a call from a man in a western state who was asking about Kelly.
"He had sent Kelly an M-14 to be fixed. I called the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about it," Bord said.
Counts 1 through 95 of the indictment allege Kelly made machine guns that were not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record and did not pay taxes on them, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Johnston.
Counts 191 through 200 allege Kelly committed mail fraud for about three years by devising a scheme to get money and property from buyers of about 300 firearms using the U.S. Postal Service. Kelly allegedly fraudulently represented the legality of the firearms, specifically that the M-14 receivers were produced from parts which had allegedly been destroyed in accordance with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulations.
Additional counts allege the transferral of firearms to non-residents and possessing machine guns and two semiautomatic assault weapons.
If convicted, Kelly faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of 1-190 and each count of 204-385; and a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on counts 191, 203 and 386.
Staff writer Darlene J. Taylor can be reached at 626-1403 or by e-mail at dtaylor@exponent-telegram.com