Bottle openers, wall hangers, and door stops: The disturbing code language of illegal firearm trade
Shane Scaccia got what, to others, might have appeared an innocuous Facebook message, an inquiry asking, "Yo you still making bottle openers?"
Scaccia, a Brockport man, allegedly answered that February 2021 message equally innocuously: "Here and there .., Want some?"
According to FBI investigators, "bottle openers" was code for plastic converters that could transform semi-automatic firearms into automatic weapons, able to fire off a fusillade of deadly projectiles with a single pull of the trigger. What Scaccia didn't know was that he was communicating with an undercover informant, one who later met Scaccia for purchases, according to court papers.
Scaccia last year was arrested at the age of 32 on firearms charges.
The converters, commonly called "drop-in sears," have become another dilemma for law enforcement at a time when mass shootings are on the rise and men, women and children have been fatally shot in community hubs like schools, supermarkets and places of worship.
Machine gun converters created on a printer
Often created with a template from a 3-D printer, sometimes with software that can be legally purchased, the devices allow for the creation of outlawed automatic firearms, or "machine guns" as called under federal statutes.
Earlier this month, Scaccia, who is now jailed, appeared in federal court in Rochester for a plea. He is accused of the illegal possession and transfer of "machine guns," or automatic weapons under federal laws. However, Scaccia wanted a prison term capped at five years, fewer than what federal prosecutors say they were ready to accept.
He is scheduled to return to court in December to see if a plea can be reached or if he will go to trial.
Scaccia is not accused of possessing actual firearms, but instead the devices that can create automatic weapons.
Federal prosecutors allege that Scaccia sold dozens of the converters to people across the country.
Scaccia is also accused of the illegal sale of silencers.
"In their online communications, Scaccia and his customers refer to the auto sears for AR-15 rifles using code words, such as 'bottle openers,' 'openers' or 'wall hangers,'" an affidavit alleges. "Likewise, Scaccia and his customers refer to the auto sears for Glock handguns using code words, such as 'door stops,' 'door stoppers' or 'stops.' Scaccia offers both types of auto sears for sale in either plastic or stainless steel."
Among those who allegedly purchased the converters from Scaccia were a Minnesota man who proclaimed he was a member of the antigovernment "Boogaloo Bois" and had expressed a willingness to kill police, and a Virginia man who, according to court records, was irked because the converters "cracked" and were inoperable.
Scaccia's attorney, Matthew Lembke, said, "There are several factual and equitable aspects about Shane’s situation which we think will persuade the court in terms of its sentence if Shane is convicted." Lembke declined to detail the specifics.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment.
Police, ATF worried about converters
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, there were 814 converters seized from 2012 through 2016 and 5,454 during the next five years — a 570% increase. And all indications are that the numbers and use are continuing to grow.
"We found over 260 cases filed in the last five years, including robberies, assaults, and murders, with over 1,000 devices recovered," the online site Trace, which reports on gun violence, reported last year. "The government has not previously compiled this data, and the actual number of illegally converted machine guns on the streets is likely far higher."
In a segment on WHEC-TV (Channel 10) about the converters, Sean Martineck, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said a converter device takes the threat of violence "to another level, out in a community that is already plagued with violence from guns." In a display for WHEC, Martineck fired a Glock equipped with a converter and ripped off nearly 30 shots in a matter of seconds.
Scaccia's converters allegedly were typically used for two types of firearms — Glocks and AR-15 rifles.
There have been no instances, according to records and testimony, of the converters being used in incidents of violence. For this story, the Democrat and Chronicle reviewed hundreds of pages of court documents from several states.
However, tracing the usage or whereabouts of the converters is difficult for law enforcement because they are typically homemade devices with no serial numbers.
Court papers provide limited insight into Scaccia's possible market. One purchaser appears to have been a disillusioned man with antigovernment sentiments — Michael Paul Dahlager of Minnesota, who was among those who clung to the falsehood that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
Dahlager, 30, was loosely affiliated with the so-called Boogaloo Bois, itself a loosely-knit far-right extremist group that shows up at various protests armed. Dahlager was sentenced to two years in prison last year after admitting to possession of a machine gun. He admitted that he possessed two of the converters.
Dahlager allegedly told an informant that he was ready to commit "suicide by cop" at a planned Minnesota rally for supporters of the claim that Trump won in 2020. "Suicide by cop" is typically a term for plans to attack police and die in an exchange of gunfire.
Court records also show that a Virginia man, Matthew Rogers, admitted to buying converters online from Scaccia for use with an AR-15, though Rogers complained that some of the converters didn't work.
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— Gary Craig is a veteran reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle, covering courts and crime and more. You can reach Craig at gcraig@rocheste.gannett.com. He is the author of two books, including "Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink's Heist."
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Shane Scaccia nearing plea in federal firearms case in Rochester NY
