Sauk Rapids man pleads guilty to illegally making and selling firearms

A man from Sauk Rapids pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to one count of willfully engaging in the business of manufacturing firearms without a license, according to a news release.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says that Jay James Olson, 21, manufactured and sold firearms without a federal license from the fall of 2021 to April 2022.

Olson was arrested at a residence in Waite Park on April 26 after he sold 16 unserialized firearms, or “ghost guns,” nine high-capacity magazines, one firearms silencer, an auto-sear, and other firearms accessories to somebody whom he didn’t know was a confidential source for law enforcement, prosecutors said.

While executing a search warrant in Waite Park, investigators found firearm assembly kits and multiple miscellaneous firearms parts and accessories, according to a news release.

Investigators also executed a search warrant on Olson’s residence in Sauk Rapids on May 4 and found manufacturing tools, firearm assembly kits, and a Glock firearm assembly diagram in the basement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.

The investigation for this case included law enforcement personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (AFT), the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Hennepin County Violent Offender Task Force, and the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, the news release noted.

No sentencing date has been scheduled for Olson.