An 80-year-old Canton resident, George Manuselis, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 30 to smuggling firearms purchased in Northeast Ohio for sale in Greece. U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster accepted his plea for the charge of Smuggling Goods from the United States.
According to court documents, a firearm recovered in Greece in April 2022 was traced back to a licensed dealer in Canton where Manuselis had made the purchase. Further investigation revealed that several other firearms bought by Manuselis were also found in Greece. Authorities said Manuselis admitted to smuggling the guns by hiding them in his suitcase. He had previously signed a warning notice acknowledging he would not buy firearms for others or take them out of the country.
Despite this warning, authorities later learned that Manuselis was attempting another firearm purchase and had booked a flight to Greece on the same day. He was apprehended at John F. Kennedy International Airport before boarding a flight to Athens and found with multiple firearms after being served the prior warning notice.
Manuselis is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 10 and faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment. As part of his plea agreement, he will forfeit all related firearms, including five pistols and approximately 940 rounds of ammunition. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives conducted the investigation leading to indictment while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Duncan T. Brown and Toni Beth Schnellinger Feisthamel are prosecuting the case for the Northern District of Ohio.
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio is responsible for enforcing federal criminal laws related to national security and public corruption while defending civil suits across forty northern counties; it promotes community safety through outreach programs with schools and law enforcement agencies as part of its role within federal law enforcement under the Department of Justice, according to its official website.