Indian American arms dealer gets 57 months jail; fined $1.16 million

Neil Ravi Mehta and his company Federal Armament LLC sentenced for various criminal violations

By DesiMax Wire

An Indian American arms dealer has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and ordered to pay about $660,000 in restitution while his company has been fined $500,000 for various criminal violations.

Neil Ravi Mehta, 32, was sentenced on June 20 by Judge P.K. Holmes, in the US District Court in Fort Smith, Arkansas, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Arkansas.

Mehta’s prison term is to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was charged with one count of possession of an unregistered firearm that was a destructive device, one count of fraud and false statements related to tax returns, and one count of false declaration before a court.

In a separate case, Federal Armament LLC, owned by Mehta, was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $500,000.00 on one count of unlawful importing and receipt of firearms and one count of filing false or misleading electronic export information. Federal Armament LLC was also ordered to forfeit the illegally imported firearms.

According to court documents, on Jan 31, 2023, federal law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Mehta’s residence in Fort Smith. Mehta was present at the residence when officers announced their intent to enter the residence but fled from the residence prior to officers making entry into the residence.

Mehta was later arrested after a six-day manhunt, in which the public’s assistance was solicited in locating the defendant, who was assumed to be armed and dangerous.

During the execution of the search warrant, officers discovered and seized a destructive device located in the top left corner of the kitchen island of the residence. The destructive device was not registered as required by law and therefore unlawfully possessed by Mehta.

As to the tax charge, Mehta substantially underreported his income by failing to report millions of dollars of business activities for Federal Armament LLC, a business headquartered in Fort Smith, which engaged in the manufacturing and selling ammunition, firearms, and other related items.

None of the gross receipts of Federal Armament LLC were reported on any of Mehta’s IRS Forms 1040 for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

As to the charge of false declaration before a court, on December 14, 2021, a deposition under oath was taken from Mehta in connection with a civil suit brought against Mehta and Federal Armament LLC by the US Department of Labor alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. During the deposition, Mehta made false statements under oath regarding matters that were material to the civil suit.

According to court documents in the Federal Armament LLC case, on Jan 31, 2023, federal law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Federal Armament LLC in Fort Smith.

During the search warrant officer located and seized 3,185 firearms that the firm unlawfully imported due to excess magazine capacity or because the firearms lacked required engraving marks.

As to the export charge, on June 27, 2022, it submitted to the US Department of Commerce a license application for approval to export certain firearms to Poland.

The export license application contained false and misleading information by naming an individual as the contact person who was neither employed by nor acting as the contact person for the company.