Reseda ex-con with extremist ties gets 57 months in prison for possession of machine guns, ammo

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- An ex-con from Reseda who was associated with a racially motivated violent extremist group was sentenced Friday to 57 months in federal prison for being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition and possessing machine-gun conversion devices that allow semi-automatic firearms to function as machine guns.

Ryan Scott Bradford, 35, pleaded guilty in January in downtown Los Angeles to single federal counts of felon in possession of ammunition and possession of machine guns.

FBI, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Los Angeles police officers recovered 116 rounds of ammunition, firearm parts and two 3D printers -- one of which had swastikas painted on it -- and temporarily shut down streets in the area following the discovery of an apparent improvised explosive device during a search on July 27 at Bradford's home, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The warrant was served in the vicinity of White Oak Avenue and Saticoy Street.

In sentencing papers filed in Los Angeles federal court, prosecutors argued that Bradford "has been involved in manufacturing guns for years," and that the number of guns he "was manufacturing was not insubstantial and he was working to arm himself as well as others."

Bradford is barred from possessing ammunition as a result of a 2012 burglary conviction.

"This violent extremist not only made numerous threats to kill Jews, but also was amassing weapons capable of carrying out acts of violence," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.

"Hateful behavior of this sort has no place in our society, and we will continue to use all the tools available to protect the community from violence driven by racially motivated ideology."

According to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint filed last year, Bradford was affiliated with a San Fernando Valley racially motivated violent extremist group. According to the affidavit, Bradford used messaging applications to post racist remarks against Jewish people, including calling for mass murder and genocide of Jews.