Ex-Marines arrested in Idaho for secretly selling guns, feds say

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – Three men from Boise have been arrested on charges they profited off trafficking illegal guns under the federal government’s radar, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Two of the men are former Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Ex-Marines Liam Montgomery Collins, 21, and Jordan Duncan, 25, were charged this month in the alleged conspiracy with 35-year-old Paul James Kryscuk, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said Tuesday in a news release. All three were arrested in Idaho on Oct. 20.

The trio is accused of using “the conspiracy to enrich themselves and others by manufacturing and selling hard to obtain firearms and firearm parts in a manner that would hide these purchases from the federal government,” according to the release.

Prosecutors said the scheme started in May 2019 when Collins paid Kryscuk to buy multiple firearms and related accessories.

Collins received $1,500 in his personal bank account in April, which he sent to Kryscuk on Venmo to buy a 9 mm pistol and suppressor, according to court filings.

Suppressors, which silence or muffle the sound of a gun discharging, are among “the most highly regulated gun accessories in the U.S.,” The Verge reported in 2019. Buying them legally requires “extensive screening,” and the process can take more than a year.

Kryscuk, however, was able to purchase a suppressor — also known as a “solvent trap” — from an unnamed vendor within a few months, court filings say. He is accused of sending the suppressor and pistol from Idaho to Collins in Jacksonville using the alias “Shaun Corcoran” on June 17.

The pair repeated the process on Sept. 11, this time with a rifle, prosecutors said.

Kryscuk and Collins are accused of sending the unregistered rifle with a modified length of less than 26 inches from Idaho to Pennsylvania, according to court filings.

“Duncan was aware of and participated in the conspiracy,” prosecutors said. They didn’t elaborate in the news release on his involvement.

Collins and Kryscuk are charged with conspiring to manufacture firearms and ship them across state lines, interstate transportation of firearms without a license and interstate transportation of a firearm not registered as required, prosecutors said They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Duncan is charged with conspiring to manufacture firearms and ship them across state lines and faces up to five years in prison.

The trio was scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Idaho on Tuesday.