A South Dakota resident pled guilty today to possession of an unregistered firearm.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, State Attorney, Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, Ari C. Shapira, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), Miami Field Office, and Daniel J. Oates, Chief, Miami Beach Police Department (“MBPD”), made the announcement.

David James Goldammer, 32, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, pled guilty to the single count Indictment that charged him with possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 5861(d) (Case No. 18-20889-CR-Martinez). Goldammer is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez on June 4, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. Goldammer faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, up to 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10,000.  Goldammer will also have to forfeit the unregistered firearm.

According to court documents, on or about October 25, 2018, MBPD officers found Goldammer asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle parked with the engine running in an alleyway at the 1400 block of Ocean Court. The MBPD officers observed in plain view several open beer bottles and two handguns.  The officers asked Goldammer to exit the vehicle so that they could conduct a driving under the influence (“DUI”) and weapon violations investigation. Later, Goldammer was asked to perform standard field sobriety exercises in order to determine whether he was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Goldammer refused to perform the field sobriety exercises. The MBPD officers arrested Goldammer based upon their own observations. 

After Goldammer was arrested, the MBPD officers determined that Goldammer’s vehicle needed to be towed in accordance with MBPD policy. Before Goldammer’s vehicle was towed, the officers were required to conduct an inventory search of the vehicle. During the inventory search, the MBPD officers located a green rifle bag underneath of the rear driver-side seat that contained a loaded rifle with a barrel of less than 16 inches in length, commonly referred to as a “short-barrel rifle”, a separate upper receiver that was longer than 16 inches in length and an additional loaded magazine. In addition, the MBPD officers found five handguns, several thousand rounds of ammunition, body armor, empty and loaded magazines, and other firearms accessories.

An ATF expert later examined the short-barrel rifle and determined that the overall length of the barrel was 7-5/8 inches, which is smaller than the legal limit of 16 inches before a rifle is exempt from registration under the National Firearms Act (“NFA”). The ATF expert also determined that the short-barrel rifle bore no NFA manufacturer’s marks of identification, as required by law. ATF further conducted a records check and determined that the short-barrel rifle was not registered to Goldammer in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by law.

Ms. Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of ATF and MBPD.  Ms. Fajardo Orshan also thanked the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for their assistance. This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Gellis from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Christine Hernandez.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.