A Pima County man has until Friday to enter into a plea deal or prepare to stand trial next month on federal firearms charges that could land him in prison for up to 25 years.
Anthony Michael Brumfield was indicted in March on two counts of knowingly possessing a machinegun and one count of possessing a pistol with a “removed, obliterated, or altered” serial number. He has until June 19 to negotiate a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office or go to trial at which he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the machinegun counts and another 5 years for the pistol.
Brumfield is one of three weapons cases slated for trial in July at the U.S. District Court in Tucson. But although his July 7 trial will be the first of the three, his criminal charges were the last to be filed.
According to court records, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) learned in early February that Brumfield claimed to have Glock machinegun switches for sale. As a result of the investigative lead, ATF agents began to surveil Brumfield, who is a convicted felon prohibited from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition.
A machinegun switch is device that when installed on a semi-automatic Glock handgun converts -or switches- the firearm to fully automatic. The device operates by applying force to the weapon’s trigger bar that normally limits the weapon to firing only one round each time the trigger is depressed.
On Feb. 12, Brumfield was observed transferring some firearms to an unnamed person. The firearms were seized, and one was found to be a Glock conversion machinegun. Another machinegun was reportedly found at Brumfield’s residence.
A second firearms-related trial scheduled for next month involves Michael John Burnett, a Pima County man arrested in August 2018 for prohibited possession of a firearm by a felon. He was taken into custody after ATF special agents observed him with a gun holster on his belt while inside a Tucson store.
“The firearm was concealed by Burnett’s shirt, but an agent clearly saw an outline of a pistol through the shirt,” according to the criminal complaint signed by ATF Special Agent Alexander Tisch. A Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun was recovered from the glovebox of the car Burnett was driving.
Burnett’s plea deadline is June 26, otherwise he will go on trial July 14 for the second time in the case. The first trial ended in a mistrial last year on the first day of testimony. Court records show Burnett was later charged with intending to “influence or prevent the testimony” of a key prosecution witness.
The ATF’s Tisch also signed the criminal complaints filed against Brumfield and Bryan William David Sicard, who is set to stand trial July 28 unless he takes a plea deal by July 10.
Sicard was arrested in October 2019 after authorities executed a federal search warrant at his residence and seized a 9mm handgun. Like Burnett, Sicard is convicted felon who cannot lawfully possess or use a firearm, nor be in possession of ammunition.
According to the federal grand jury indictment, Sicard is charged with prohibited possession of 10 handguns and nearly 180 rounds of ammunition, possessing a firearm in the furtherance of drug trafficking, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and obstruction of justice.
The obstruction charge relates to Sicard’s alleged falsification of a bill of sale for the Smith and Wesson 9mm in Burnett’s case.
All three men were originally represented by Tucson-based criminal defense attorney Mark Resnick, but in May the lawyer withdrew from Burnett and Sicard’s cases. Angela Woolridge, an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, is prosecuting the three cases.