COLUMBUS – A former Ohio National Guard member was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to nearly six years in prison and another six years of supervised release for making and selling “ghost guns,” and was also sentenced on local charges of making threats against a Jewish school in Columbus where he worked as a security guard.
Thomas Develin, of Columbus, admitted in a plea bargain in October that he created untraceable homemade weapons and parts with a 3D printer and sold them, even though he knew were illegal. according to a release from the office of Kenneth Parker, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Develin, 25, was also sentenced in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas to six years in state prison to six years in state prison for various crimes, including making terroristic threats, a sentence which will l run concurrent to his federal prison term, Parker said.
Develin was accused of making antisemitic and violent statements online while employed to provide security services at local synagogues and Jewish schools, including the Columbus Torah Academy.
Court documents say that Develin, 25, advertised online that he possessed and was selling 3D-printed devices designed to convert semiautomatic AR-type rifles into fully automatic rifles, considered machine guns under federal law, Parker said.
Other messages on Develin’s phone stated that he had manufactured a two-handed firearm with an illegal overall length under 26 inches.
When Develin was arrested in March 2022, authorities found night vision goggles, ballistic plates, a ballistic helmet, first aid equipment and a large quantity of ammunition including several loaded magazines in his vehicle.
Agents executing search warrants in March and April 2022 found more than 25 firearms in Develin’s residence and vehicle, along with manuals describing how to make improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, Parker’s office said.
Develin admitted in his plea agreement that in late March 2022, he knew law enforcement may be coming for him, so he went to the property surrounding the cabin of a person he knew to hide and destroy evidence.