Sikeston man pleads guilty to federal firearms charges

A Sikeston man pleaded guilty Thursday, Feb. 1, to two federal firearms felonies.

A release from Sayler Fleming, U. S. attorney for Missouri’s Eastern District, said Averyoun Quentez Lane, 18, pleaded guilty in Cape Girardeau federal court to unlawfully transferring a machine gun and engaging in the business of dealing firearms.

The release said Lane sold two Glock pistols July 3 to an undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent. One of the pistols had been modified with an aftermarket "switch" to make the firearm fully automatic, fitting the definition of a machine gun. After an unrelated arrest, Lane admitted to obtaining and selling firearms on a regular basis without having a license to do so, the release states.

Lane’s sentencing has been set for May 16. He could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or both, for the machine gun charge and up to five years in prison and the same fine on the firearm dealing charge

ATF and Sikeston Department of Public Safety investigated the case. Assistant U. S. attorney Timothy Willis is prosecuting the case.