A man from Wisconsin has been charged with selling and smuggling $398,000 in firearms to Saudi buyers.
Mark John Buschman was on the receiving end of a six-count-indictment for allegedly exporting firearms and components that enhance firearms without the appropriate license to overseas buyers in Saudia Arabia. Buschman was also scrutinized by prosecuting parties for giving false information and not disclosing contents to federal inspectors.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Shepherd and Jerome J. Teresinski for the Northern District of Ohio, Trial Attorney Christopher Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin man charged for illegal smuggling to Saudi buyers
The man from Viroqua now faces the charges unsealed for allegedly running a five-year smuggling ring and illegal export conspiracy. Buschman faces a maximum penalty of forty-two years in prison and fines of a reported $1.5 million.
Prosecutors focused on the period of February 2019 to about December 2024, where it is presumed that Buschman ran an eBay store and other online storefronts that sold firearms and firearms accessories.
According to the prosecution, he attracted the attention of buyers based in Saudi Arabia and “agreed to sell and ship the items out of the country to them. Throughout the course of the conspiracy, Saudi Arabian-based buyers paid the defendant approximately $398,000.”
To successfully send the items it is alleged that Buschman broke down the firearms and parts and concealed them in a host of items.
Court papers indicate that he hid these parts in “inside of common household appliances and tools such as toasters, coffee makers, space heaters, fans, and landscaping edge trimmers. For example, the defendant concealed rifle barrels in items such as car axles, and smaller pistols inside of toasters.”
The Wisconsin man faces the charges of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States; attempted smuggling of goods from the United States; transporting and shipping firearms with removed, obliterated, or altered serial numbers; mailing firearms as nonmailable prohibited items; unlawful dealing in firearms without a license; and making false statements to law enforcement.
The Homeland Security Investigations Cleveland Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Cleveland Office, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives are investigating the case with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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