Smiley man pleads guilty to illegal possession of machine gun

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A Smiley man has plead guilty to the unlawful possession of a machine gun, according to federal court filings obtained by the Inquirer.

On Thursday, March 18, 19-year-old Caleb Nathaniel Oliver of Smiley, Texas entered a guilty plea to charges of illegally possessing a machine gun in the Texas Western District Court. Oliver has been released on bond. Sentencing is set for June 14, 2021, before U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra.

This charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and $100 mandatory special assessment.

A criminal complaint filed early February in the Texas Western District Court alleges that Oliver purchased an automatic weapon from an undercover officer in Wilson County. Criminal complaints are not considered evidence of guilt. They are charges levied in a court of law, where defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

According to a press release from the district court, court documents show that Oliver is among the membership of the group called Iron Youth, which is a racially motivated and violent extremist group advocating violence in pursuit of its objectives. 

Going back to September 2020, court records show Oliver had several meetings with undercover officers to discuss the purchase of the machine gun. In pleading guilty, he admits to purchasing a fully automatic machine gun from an undercover officer on Feb. 5, 2021, according to the district court’s press release.

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