Man Pleads Guilty, Forfeits More Than 100 Firearms

A Florida man has had to forfeit more than 100 guns and silencers stored at homes in Newtown and Pennsylvania as part of pleading guilty to possessing a stolen firearm, federal officials announced Friday.

Richard Sleeva, 48, of Naples, a federal firearms licensee, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Hartford to possession of a stolen firearm in connection with silencers he took from a former employer, Gemtech, an Idaho company that specializes in those devices, prosecuters said.

Sleeva apparently was removed from Gemtech's Board of Directors in 2001, and in departing failed to return the silencers to Gemtech as demanded, officials said. He admits in pleading guilty that he illegally possessed three Gemtech silencers from 2001 through 2009, officials said.

In addition, he has turned over more than 40 firearms silencers, 40 short-barreled shotguns, several machine guns, semi-automatic handguns and semi-automatic rifles to Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents in 2009, officials said. The weapons had been stored in homes in Pennsylvania and Newtown, officials said.

Sleeva, who is free on bond, is to be sentenced on Dec. 9. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and fine of up to $250,000.