Man guilty of weapons charges

By Amanda Stewart

Published: March 17, 2008

A Manassas area man recently pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges at the U.S. District Court in Alexan-dria.

Christopher Scott Compton, 41, pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing and transferring machine guns.

Prosecutors said Compton twice sold unregistered machine guns to undercover police officers, first at his home in Ashburn in April and again in December at his house in the Manassas area, where he had moved. Federal officials did not release Compton's address.

Prosecutors dropped three other charges against him, including one additional count of possessing and transferring machines guns, one count of possessing unregistered firearms and one count of possessing machine guns, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.

Compton sold four unregistered machine guns for $2,100 to an undercover officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on April 12 at a house in Ashburn, where Compton then lived, according to court documents.

On Dec. 11, at his house in Manassas, Compton sold two unregistered machine guns, one unregistered rifle and one unregistered silencer to an undercover agent for $2,000, the documents stated.

During the purchase, Compton said he manufactured some of the guns and the silencer in the garage of his Manas-sas home, prosecutors said.

Compton was arrested in December and ATF officials seized several machine guns and other weapons from his house, according to court documents.

His sentencing is scheduled for June.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014 or .