Man sold 13 unregistered firearms to undercover ATF agent in Macon, complaint says
A man has been charged with illegally selling more than a dozen guns to an confidential informant in Macon, federal court records say.
John Cato, 24, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of possession and transfer of a machine gun and one count of providing firearms and ammunition to a prohibited person, court records show. The charges stem from an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after a confidential informant notified them in April that Cato was selling him guns, even though he allegedly knew the confidential informant was a felon.
When the informant suggested to the ATF that he could buy the guns from Cato at their direction, the ATF agreed. Agents began monitoring the informant’s interactions with Cato via body transmitter and audio and video recordings, court records show.
The informant was able to purchase three guns on April 23, in the parking lot of a business in Macon. The informant met with their friend, who then took them to Cato’s car, where the guns were located. One of the guns that Cato allegedly had was a Glock pistol that had an illegal switch on it, and he was hesitant to sell it to the informant because it belonged to him, according to court records. But he sold the pistol anyway.
The Glock pistol with the switch was then turned over to law enforcement, along with two Taurus pistols. Switches on Glocks allow them to be fired at a higher rate, and they are illegal modifications.
Cato and the informant met again on June 26. The informant was accompanied by an undercover agent with the ATF. Cato felt nervous bringing in another person to the deal and asked if they were law enforcement. The informant responded by reassuring Cato that the informant was a convicted felon, and they didn’t want to go to jail either, according to court records.
When the undercover agent arrived at the deal, Cato allegedly showed him another Glock and how to make it an automatic gun using the switch. The undercover agent opened the rear hatch of the vehicle, and Cato allegedly told the informant to bring a blanket and a duffle bag with guns from his car and place it in the trunk of the agent’s car.
The undercover agent convinced Cato to sell his personal Glock pistol with the switch attached, which he did. The agent ended up buying a total of 13 guns for $13,700.
Those guns were then transported to the ATF office in Macon. Further investigation into Cato showed he did not have any registered firearms or machine guns in the ATF’s record system.
Cato faces no more than 15 years in prison and a fine for selling a firearm to a prohibited person. He faces 10 years in prison for the illegal selling and transferring of machine guns.
