Prineville men charged with machine gun possession, sale
A three-count indictment unsealed in federal court in Eugene on Friday charges two Prineville men with conspiracy to transfer and unlawful possession of a machine gun.
According to the indictment, between May and June of this year, Michael James Friesen, 32, agreed to broker the sale of a Guide Lamp, Model M3A1, .45 ACP caliber machine gun for Jordan.
Between May 30 and June 5, prosecutors said, Friesen discussed the sale price of the firearm with an undercover agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was posing as a potential purchaser. Friesen confirmed for the agent that he had seen the firearm function as a machine gun, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
On June 6, Friesen met the undercover agent in a motel room in Prineville. Shortly thereafter, John Widener Jordan, 38, brought the firearm to the motel room and completed the transaction in exchange for $3,000 in cash. Jordan in turn paid Friesen for arranging the sale, prosecutors said.
The case was investigated by the ATF and is being prosecuted by Nathan Lichvarcik, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, 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.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. attorney’s 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.
