SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — A central Utah man was sentenced on Monday to over five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to reselling firearms without a license and other drug-related offenses.

According to court documents, Phillip Mahe Taufa, 41, of Roosevelt, dealt in the business of purchasing and reselling firearms illegally between February 2021 and November 2021 in Utah.

Taufa reportedly admitted to purchasing over 50 firearms from federally licensed dealers and individual sellers. He then, in turn, resold the firearms to residents in California and Nevada by charging them double the price he bought them for.

Officials at the U.S. District Court of Utah say Taufa never acquired the license to deal firearms and lied to the licensed dealers when he was buying from them.

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On Nov. 9, 2021, authorities serving a warrant at Taufa’s residence recovered 43 firearms, ammunition, over 10 pounds of marijuana, and THC cartridges. Taufa admitted to purchasing marijuana from the dark web and that he intended to distribute portions of it to others.

Taufa was sentenced to 64 months in prison as well as a supervised release of three years. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $600,000.

The investigation was carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives , the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Roosevelt Police Department .

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