LOS ANGELES – A Mid-City man was sentenced to almost three years in federal prison on Thursday for a variety of gun-related offenses.
Ellourth Eladio Simon, 33, pleaded guilty in May to a count of dealing firearms without a license and a count of possessing a machine gun, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Simon sold more than two dozen guns, some of which lacked serial numbers — often referred to as “ghost guns” because of their untraceable nature — and others that had been converted into automatic weapons using a device known as a “switch.”
Authorities said Simon admitted to at least eight gun sales, including a Nov. 10, 2021 “sale for $8,400 in which Simon sold an ATF undercover agent four handguns and a ‘ghost gun’ AR-type rifle.”
The person who sold Simon the weapons, 41-year-old William Nirion Peña of Koreatown, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison in this case.
“Peña provided approximately 16 firearms and a substantial amount of ammunition that were sold by Simon to an undercover agent,” the DOJ said. “The firearms included two silencers without serial numbers and a Glock switch. The government asserted that Simon also had other sources of the firearms that he sold to the undercover federal agent in the eight purchases.”
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued that Simon’s “criminal conduct was dangerous, long-standing and serious.”
“[Simon] not only illegally sold large quantities of powerful handguns and rifles, and ammunition, but he also sold firearms silencers, items whose harmfulness and illegality were obvious on their face,” prosecutors said.
