Lake Elsinore man sentenced to prison for unregistered arsenal

By Jose Luis Jiménez, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Monday, January 11, 2010 at 6:23 p.m.

FEDERAL COURT — A Lake Elsinore man in possession of four unregistered machine guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck was sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years in prison, federal officials said.

Jason Hilliard, 36, was arrested May 6 when San Diego police found the arsenal inside his car after an accident with a parked vehicle in Pacific Beach, officials said.

Hilliard pleaded guilty in October to three felony counts of possession of unregistered machine guns and went to trial on two remaining counts, officials said. He was found guilty on one of the two remaining counts Oct. 20, and he was sentenced Monday based on his conviction on a total of four counts of possession of unregistered machine guns, officials said.

If convicted on all five of the original counts in the indictment, he faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, officials said previously.

San Diego police officers found the machine guns and ammunition among six firearms in the car. They also found a ski mask, duct tape and a large overcoat.

A subsequent search of Hilliard’s home turned up nine more guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, a silencer and two pipe bombs, authorities previously said.

Hilliard told officers he removed the firearms from his home for safety reasons after a fight with his fiancee, according to court records.

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