“I'm a little concerned that the rehabilitative aspects of the sentencing were not met,” she said, explaining that McLean, 52, had what authorities described as a “pretty difficult relationship with correctional staff.”
Court documents: State police found the 3D printer and enough parts for two semi-automatic weapons in the garage of his former home in Papakura, South Auckland, in March 2021.
He had sold the house a few months earlier, but initially kept his belongings in the garage. In January 2021, the new owner asked him to remove his belongings and stop having mail sent to the house, but he did not respond. A month later, the new tenants contacted police when a package arrived for McLean that they believed was suspicious because the delivery note indicated it contained firearm parts.
With the blessing of the new tenants, the police conducted an unauthorized search.
In the garage they found a partially assembled FGC-9 cannon and enough scattered parts to assemble another. McLean's community service card was found among the pieces.
“An FGC-9 is a 3D printed firearm designed to circumvent various laws surrounding gun control,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “The plans for this, for 3D printing, can be downloaded online. “FGC” stands for “F*** Gun Control”.
Police then obtained a search warrant for a storage unit rented by the defendant.
“In the storage unit were approximately 100 ammunition primers, as well as brass ammunition casings, ammunition pressing tools and ammunition bullets,” court documents state.
McLean was not a firearms license holder. In fact, he had been expressly prohibited from owning firearms under a protective order that had been issued against him ten years earlier.
As a result of his guilty plea, he faced a prison sentence of up to four years for unlawful possession of the bullets, up to three years for violating a protective order, and up to two years each for possession of the 3D-printed magazine and for manufacturing prohibited items.
He was originally charged with attempting to manufacture a firearm, punishable by up to five years in prison, but earlier this year the sentence was reduced to the lesser charge of manufacturing.
Possessing or downloading blueprints for a 3D printed gun is not currently illegal, although police have recently advocated doing so.
Crown prosecutor Jazmine Cassidy called for an end to house arrest, while defense lawyer Shane Cassidy, who is unrelated to the prosecution, called for a community service sentence. He argued that electronic monitoring was no longer necessary given how long McLean had already been subjected to it.
However, the judge noted that McLean had already been ordered by the court to perform community service on lesser theft charges he was convicted of in August and that he was not on track to complete them Complete the expiration of his sentence.
“There appears to be an unwillingness to do community service,” the judge said, noting that since his last conviction there have been several instances in which he was described as failing to follow orders, being intimidating or aggressive towards those who were supposed to help him carry the sentence. “You describe being difficult to work with.”
Shane Cassidy said his client moved from Auckland for a fresh start and until recently may have prioritized his job over his prison sentence.
“I suspect the reason for this is Mr. McLean's desire to move on with his life,” the defense attorney said.
“I want him to move on too,” the judge replied. “I want him out of the court system.”
While his time in custody and on bail ensured he was “virtually compliant with time served”, the judge said he needed a “short, sharp sentence in community custody” that would “put this with the system behind him and put him behind him.” would”, instead of doing it. The reluctant community work drags on. She ordered a month's notice and canceled more than 100 hours of outstanding community service.
“It seems your move north has been good for you,” she said. “You want to move on with your life and put these things behind you. I fully support that.”
McLean noted that he works night shifts, meaning the curfew associated with community detention could jeopardize his job.
“I realize this will have an impact, but that is the reality that community work is not being taken into account,” the judge said.
The police announced this at the beginning of the year Herald They have observed a “surge” in the production of 3D weapons by organized crime groups. The so-called “ghost guns” without serial numbers are difficult to track down.
Since 2018, 58 3D-printed weapons and between 200 and 300 firearm parts have been confiscated, authorities said at the time.
Craig Captain is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has covered courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the United States and New Zealand.
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