A Fort Bliss soldier was sentenced Wednesday, July 5, 2023, to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to making and selling automatic weapon converters without charging the required federal tax, according to court documents. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

AUSTIN, Texas — A Fort Bliss soldier was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to making and selling automatic weapon converters without charging the required federal tax, according to court documents.

Spc. Grant Lee Mosley, 26, was arrested by the FBI and indicted in August on charges of 3-D printing accessories to convert firearms into fully automatic ones in his barracks room at the west Texas Army base.

The manufacturing and selling of such devices are regulated by the National Firearms Act. As part of a plea agreement, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone sentenced Mosley in the El Paso Division of the Western District of Texas.

The three other charges against Mosley were dropped as part of the agreement. Those charges were for dealing and manufacturing firearms without a license, transferring or possessing a machine gun, and receiving or possessing a firearm that doesn’t have a serial number.

Mosley, who enlisted in the Army in May 2019 as a combat engineer, posted to social media last year asking for funding for his gun manufacturing business, according to court documents. He also used online message platforms to advertise and sell conversion devices, commonly referred to as switches and auto sears, across the United States in violation of law.

Agents posed as potential buyers, sending money to Mosley through a smartphone application. Mosley sent them the items, which were found to have his fingerprints on them, according to court documents. In one transaction, agents paid $400 for five fully automatic auto sears.

Mosley used a 3-D printer to make the items in his Fort Bliss barracks room and used a storage facility in El Paso, the nearest city, according to court documents.