Kansas ‘GunRunner’ sentenced for illegal overseas gun sales

A Kansas man with the moniker GunRunner has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for illegally selling guns overseas.

Michael Andrew Ryan, 36, of Manhattan, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Topeka to four years and four months in prison.

Ryan, also known as Brad Jones, pleaded guilty last June to six counts of exporting and attempting to export firearms illegally from the United States.

Ryan sold weapons on the so-called “dark web,” a hidden internet marketplace where illegal drugs and other goods can be sold online anonymously.

He sold dozens of firearms, including some that had manufacturer’s serial numbers removed, altered or obliterated. He also sold magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

His customers were in Ireland, England, Scotland and Australia.