Feds: Fultonville man admits illegally selling 'ghost guns' in Montgomery County

ALBANY – A Fultonville man admitted this past week to illegally selling firearms built from component parts purchased online, commonly called “ghost guns,” federal prosecutors said.

Michael Castelluccio, 42, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of unlawfully transferring an unregistered short-barrel rifle that had machine gun capability, prosecutors said.

He faces up to 10 years in prison at his April sentencing and agreed to give up his right to appeal any sentence of six years, six months or less.

Castelluccio admitted that he built and sold firearms from component parts that he ordered online and that he did so between August and October 2019, prosecutors said.

The firearms are commonly called “ghost guns” because they do not have serial numbers, making it difficult for law enforcement to trace them, prosecutors said.

He admitted to illegally building and selling short-barreled rifles, as well as selling a gun modified to allow it to shoot more than one shot by a single function of its trigger, officials said.

Castelluccio was arrested in October 2019, along with a second man, Christopher Montano, residence unavailable.

They were charged after authorities allege they sold the five unregistered short-barreled rifles at Castelluccio’s Fultonville residence Sept. 12 to an undercover ATF agent. None of the weapons had serial numbers, an affidavit written then by a federal agent in the case alleges.

Montano’s case remains pending, federal court records show.

The case was investigated by the ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, along with the Schenectady and Montgomery county sheriff’s offices. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Wentworth-Ping.