Massachusetts man gets prison time for selling 'ghost guns'

A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to two years in prison for selling four so-called ghost guns to an undercover agent.

Jacob Linhares, 34, of Barnstable, sold the weapons that he had manufactured from out his truck during covert meetings in the parking lot of a Cape Cod shopping center between May 25, 2020 and June 15, 2020, according to court documents.

Linhares and the agent used coded language through phone calls and text messages to arrange the meetings, federal prosecutors said.

Ghost guns, also called privately made firearms, are made out of parts purchased by the buyer. Because they do not have serial numbers, they are untraceable.

During the fourth sale, Linhares agreed to take a commercially manufactured firearm as part of the payment, prosecutors said. But due to prior felony convictions, he is barred from possessing firearms.

President Biden earlier this week vowed to crack down on ghost guns through new regulations, measures he said would save lives.

Linhares was also sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation. He pleaded guilty in December to dealing in firearms without a license and being a felon in possession of a firearm.