Oklahoma man pleads guilty to illegally converting 177 guns into assault rifle-style handguns in Florida

BUNNELL, Fla. – An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty to making false statements in records, illegally converting and selling 177 firearms and classifying them as assault rifle-style handguns for sale as a licensed firearms dealer involved in a sophisticated smuggling scheme in Florida.

Christopher John Murchison, 52, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, although a sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Murchison, along with Michael Sawyer and Randolph Swindle, aided and abetted each other in illegally trafficking approximately 177 firearms.

Authorities discovered a complex scheme in which Sawyer purchased firearms online and shipped them to Swindle, a federal firearms license holder in Bunnell, Florida.

When the firearms arrived, Sawyer had already filled out ATF Form 4473 using his, his mother’s and his friend’s names, authorities said. He then gave these forged forms to Murchison, who used them to obtain the firearms from Swindle.

Murchison then converted the firearms into assault rifle-style handguns, which were returned to Sawyer to be resold on the streets, investigators said.

Between July 2021 and February 2022, the group purchased, modified and traded approximately 177 firearms, authorities said.

Many of the seized firearms have ties to national and international crimes in Puerto Rico and Colombia.

All three people involved were arrested and pleaded guilty. Swindle and Sawyer each pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements in records and face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.