A Waipahu man pleaded guilty Thursday to being an illegal drug user in possession of ammunition after a September search of his home and cars turned up 14 homemade handguns and rifles and canisters of ammunition.
Kendrick Adolf Augustine entered a guilty plea to a single charge of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of ammunition before Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson.
He is scheduled to be
sentenced at 9 a.m. May 11 in Watson’s court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William KeAupuni Akina is prosecuting the case for the government. Assistant Federal Public Defender Craig W. Jerome did not immediately reply to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for comment.
“Hawaii, like many states, faces an alarming proliferation of self-assembled guns, or ghost guns, many of which are recovered during criminal investigations into drug dealings and violent criminal acts,” said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors in a statement to the Star-
Advertiser. “Law enforcement is committed to investigating how these gun components are flowing into our state and to prosecuting those responsible.”
On Sept. 19, Honolulu police and agents with Homeland Security Investigations set up surveillance of Augustine’s Hina Street home in Waipahu, according to an affidavit from a Honolulu Police Department detective working as a task force officer with HSI assigned to the Border Enforcement Security Task force.
Augustine arrived on a moped and was wearing a backpack. HPD officers approached him as he got off the moped, and detained and arrested him on an outstanding traffic warrant.
Officers allegedly found a privately manufactured black, .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a large suspected silencer affixed to the muzzle. Neither the gun nor sound suppressor had a serial number, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” according to federal court records.
The pistol was loaded with .22-caliber cartridges, including one in the chamber.
Officers also allegedly found a homemade, black, 9-mm semi-automatic pistol loaded with 9-mm cartridges but none in the chamber. Also recovered was an extended magazine with
12 9-mm cartridges, two
partially filled boxes of .22-caliber cartridges and multiple loose cartridges, according to the affidavit.
Augustine allegedly had two glass cylindrical pipes containing black and
white residue, and a clear, Ziploc-type packet containing a “white crystalline
substance resembling methamphetamine.”
Augustine allegedly told officers that the .22-caliber pistol belonged to a friend and that Augustine was
trying to fix a “feeding issue” the gun was having,
according to the affidavit.
He had the gun for a couple of weeks and fired it using different brands of ammunition to determine what was causing the feeding issue. Augustine allegedly told officers the suppressor muffled the sound, “but he could not specify to what degree.”
The 9-mm pistol found in the backpack allegedly
belonged to Augustine, and he built the pistol “a couple of years ago” from parts and a Polymer80 kit, according to federal court documents. Polymer80 kits are sold online and can be used to manufacture homemade pistol grips, parts and complete handguns.
The 9-mm pistol was not registered, he allegedly told police.
He allegedly told officers he used methamphetamine a few days before they arrested him and had been using it “off and on” since his late teen years. The pipes found on him were his, he allegedly said, but he found the meth on the ground, according to the
affidavit.
He also allegedly told police he occasionally smokes cannabis to “help alleviate migraine headaches.”
On Sept. 19 a person identified in federal court documents as “Witness 1” told police Augustine has used methamphetamine every day for at least seven years. Witness 1 also allegedly told police he consumes cannabis.
During the search of the Hina Street home and two vehicles, police found four additional handguns, eight rifles, some with suppressor, and 11 firearm lowers. Firearm lowers are the unserialized lower portion of a firearm, including the trigger, magazine well, buffer tube, stock and grip.
Police also allegedly recovered 10 “military
style” ammunition cans
containing various calibers of ammunition.
