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SALT LAKE CITY — A former investment banker was convicted on Wednesday of illegally importing and possessing machine guns, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
After a four-day trial in Salt Lake City’s District Court, a federal jury convicted Gary Mark Hill, 42, of Salt Lake City, after less than two hours of deliberation, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber.
In May, Hill was charged with one count of unlawfully engaging in the business of importing and dealing machine-guns and one count of illegally possessing and transferring machine guns.
According to the news release, Hill knowingly had machine gun conversion devices, also known as “Glock auto switches,” but violated federal laws by not paying occupational taxes on the devices, or registering them.
“The defendant purchased machine guns at bargain prices from China, and knowingly sold them on Utah’s street corners at a steep markup,” Huber said in the news release. “In this day and age, there are few transactions more dangerous than an anonymous and unregulated exchange of cash for machine guns. This intentional conduct showed a reckless disregard for our safety at its best, and certainly exposed Utah to risks that the community should not have to bear. The jury had little difficulty in holding the defendant accountable.”
Hill faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 5, 2020. He will not be held in custody pending his sentencing and will remain under supervision.
