McKeesport man who kept 'ghost guns' inside tattoo parlor gets 2-plus years behind bars

A McKeesport man has been sentenced to 2½ years behind bars for storing so-called “ghost guns” and other illegal firearms inside his tattoo shop, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Richard Watson, 33, was caught with several unregistered weapons, including silencers and home-milled, AR-style pistols, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman. Watson was convicted this week in federal court in Pittsburgh of possession of unlicensed firearms.

Investigators described the home-milled guns that belonged to Watson as “effectively untraceable ghost guns,” which refers to unserialized guns that can be bought in pieces online and assembled by buyers at home.

Watson previously had run Omerta Ink on Versailles Avenue at Craig Street — a short drive from four schools, including Founder’s Hall Middle School, McKeesport Area Senior High School, a Propel Schools charter school and a Penn State satellite campus, records show.

The tattoo shop was listed as “closed” on social media directories Thursday and its website was down.

U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan ordered that Watson’s 30-month prison sentence to be followed by three years of probation. Watson also must pay a $10,000 fine, the judge ruled.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey R. Bengel prosecuted the case.

Kaufman credited the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation leading to the Watson’s conviction of possessing unlicensed firearms.

In early May, the ATF proposed a new rule that would help law enforcement better track and eliminate the threat of homemade guns such as those concealed by Watson.

Signed by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Washington, the new rule’s stated purpose is “to ensure the proper marking, record-keeping, and traceability of all firearms manufactured, imported, acquired and disposed by federal firearms licensees.”