A McLoud area resident has been arrested by FBI agents and charged with unlawfully possessing a fully automatic machinegun, U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing announced.
Christopher Steven Ledbetter, 29, of McLoud, was taken into custody last Thursday, June 4, in Oklahoma City, according to an affidavit, the FBI reported.
The affidavit further indicates that on that day the FBI encountered Ledbetter in Oklahoma City driving a 2017 Jeep Wrangler vehicle. In the vehicle, the FBI discovered a fully automatic AK-47 style carbine machinegun.
The McLoud Police Department is not being allowed to comment on the case since the FBI and other federal authorities are in charge and investigating the matter.
But McLoud City Manager Buck Day said last week and confirmed again on Monday of this week that a McLoud Planning Commission meeting was abruptly adjourned on Tuesday, June 2, “due to the safety of those attending the meeting.”
The meeting was being held in the police department building where the City Council meets and where the McLoud Municipal Court takes place.
Day said that Mayor Stan Jackson spotted Ledbetter outside of meeting standing near a light pole.
Day stated, “Ledbetter’s mother came into the meeting, looked around and sat down. Another friend of Ledbetter’s also came in and just sat down and appeared to be filming the meeting with his phone,” the city manager added.
He said the mayor went to lock the door and Ledbetter’s mother apparently asked why. Day said he told the Planning Commission they needed to adjourn the meeting for the safety of those in the meeting and that it was adjourned and everyone left except he and the mayor who stayed briefly. That was two days prior to Ledbetter’s arrest on
That was two days prior to Ledbetter’s arrest on Thursday, the same day that FBI, state troopers and other authorities reportedly searched the property near McLoud where Ledbetter resided.
According to the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint, in March 2020, the FBI learned that Ledbetter might be in possession of a fully automatic machinegun.
The FBI then reviewed publicly available materials on the internet associated with Ledbetter that depicted Ledbetter on multiple occasions shooting what appeared to be a fully automatic machinegun.
Federal law prohibits the possession, except under limited circumstances, of a fully automatic machinegun as defined in the National Firearms Act. The affidavit further indicates that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched its federal licensing system. That search determined that Ledbetter does not have the required licenses to possess a machinegun.
Last Friday, the day after his arrest, Ledbetter made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Suzanne Mitchell in Oklahoma City. Judge Mitchell ordered Ledbetter be detained pending further proceedings in the case.
If found guilty, Ledbetter faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
This case is a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Oklahoma City Field Office, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Dallas Field Division, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, as referenced in the affidavit, along with other law enforcement partners.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Dillon and Jessica Perry are prosecuting the case.