CANTON, Ohio (WOIO) – A man from Canton pleaded guilty to buying guns from Northeast Ohio to sell in Greece.
U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster accepted George Manuselis’s guilty plea to smuggling goods from the United States on Thursday, according to a press release from The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
According to court documents dated April 2022, a gun recovered in Greece was originally purchased at a licensed firearms dealer in Canton.
Federal authorities said Manuselis, an 80-year-old dual citizen of the United States and Greece, was identified as the buyer.
Further investigations revealed that several other firearms purchased by Manuselis were also recovered in Greece, according to court documents.
Manuselis admitted in court that he was smuggling the firearms to Greece by hiding them in his suitcase.
The same day, after signing and acknowledging a warning letter about the legal prohibition against straw purchasing, authorities were informed Manuselis was in the process of purchasing another firearm and had a flight scheduled to leave later that evening, according to court documents.
According to the press release, Manuselis was arrested and taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport before boarding a flight to Athens.
Manuselis is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 10 and faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio said.
As part of his guilty plea, Manuselis agreed to forfeit all the guns, which include five pistols and approximately 940 rounds of ammunition.
The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio said a federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
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