MINNEAPOLIS – An Anoka man has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint for illegally possessing a machine gun and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents and a law enforcement affidavit, in April 2022, the FBI began investigating Darrian Mitchell Nguyen, 50, based on a tip from a Confidential Human Source (CHS) that Nguyen was in possession of explosive devices, firearms, and methamphetamine, and had expressed a desire to join the Three Percenter militia group, a loosely organized anti-government extremist movement. As alleged in the affidavit, according to the CHS, Nguyen kept weapons, including rifles, shotguns, handguns, a grenade launcher, and pipe bombs in “secret” rooms built within the walls of his residence. The affidavit further alleges that Nguyen was manufacturing and trafficking methamphetamine from his residence. On August 23, 2022, during a meeting at the defendant’s residence, Nguyen sold to the CHS 7.1 grams of methamphetamine for $300.
According to the affidavit, to correct a debt owed to the defendant, Nguyen asked the CHS to provide him with firearms, specifically a short-barreled rifle equipped with an auto sear. Through text messages, Nguyen arranged to meet with the CHS to receive four auto sears and a short-barreled rifle equipped with an auto sear. At the arranged meeting on October 4, 2022, after Nguyen took possession of the machine gun and the auto sears, law enforcement arrested Nguyen and executed a search warrant at his residence. Law enforcement recovered several firearms from a hidden room inside the residence, including an AR style firearm equipped with a grenade launcher and a short-barreled shotgun.
Nguyen is charged with one count of possession of a machine gun, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of possession of a firearm not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. He made his initial appearance today in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright and was ordered to remain in detention pending further proceedings.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda M. Sertich and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Justin Sher are prosecuting the case.
A complaint is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.