Federal prosecutors have charged a suburban Stickney man with possessing and transferring a machine gun after they say he sold three firearms and a machine gun conversion device to undercover buyers during two transactions in May.
According to a criminal complaint, Aiden Alejandro sold the weapons to ATF informants at his apartment after arranging the deals through Facebook messages and phone calls beginning on May 6.
In one message, Alejandro allegedly said he had, “A real arp and I got everything for it scope shell catcher 1200.” Prosecutors believe “arp” referred to an AR-style pistol and that “1200” was Alejandro’s asking price.
Investigators then arranged a FaceTime call during which Alejandro was identified, in part, by his distinctive neck tattoos, according to the complaint. During the call, Alejandro allegedly displayed portions of an AR-style pistol and stated, “it’s got the serial numbers sanded off.”
The following day, the confidential source met Alejandro and exchanged $1,250 for a blue bag containing the firearm, a magazine, a shell catcher, and loose ammunition, prosecutors said. During the transaction, a second confidential source who accompanied the buyer asked Alejandro if he had any additional firearms for sale, including the one tucked into Alejandro’s waistband. Alejandro allegedly said he did not want to sell the firearm in his waistband, but he offered to sell a machine gun conversion device instead.
The second confidential source then offered $1,400 for both the handgun in Alejandro’s waistband and the conversion device. Prosecutors said Alejandro agreed to complete that transaction.
A few days later, Alejandro allegedly sent the first confidential source a Facebook message containing a photograph of a distinctive blue-and-black AR-style pistol with the caption “1100$.” On May 18, the second confidential source and an undercover law enforcement officer met Alejandro and completed the purchase, prosecutors said.
Earlier this month, Alejandro allegedly texted the second confidential source photographs of two more firearms and offered to sell them for $2,000. That transaction was never completed. When agents searched Alejandro’s apartment following his arrest, they recovered two firearms that appeared to be the same weapons he had offered to sell for $2,000, according to the complaint.
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