The Department of Justice announced Friday that it charged an Arizona man with selling armor piercing ammunition without a license to the Las Vegas shooter.
United States Attorney Dayle Elieson of the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI’s Las Vegas Division announced that 55-year-old Douglas Haig of Mesa, Arizona was charged in a U.S. District Court in Pheonix on Friday. He is being charged with one count of conspiracy to manufacture and sell armor piercing ammunition.
If convicted, Haig could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The criminal complaint filed against Haig claims he repeatedly met with the Las Vegas shooter and sold ammunition to him, including during one meeting at Haig's home in September 2017. The DOJ's release claims that Haig told investigators that while he does reload ammunition, he does not sell it to customers and that none of the ammunition recovered from the shooting scene would have toll marks from his reloading equipment.
However, the DOJ said it recovered ammunition from the shooter's hotel room that had Haig's fingerprints on them and armor piercing ammunition with tool marks that matched Haig's equipment.
"Based on a forensic examination of rounds recovered in the shooter’s hotel rooms, Haig’s fingerprints were found on reloaded, unfired .308 caliber cartridges. Forensic examination also revealed that armor piercing ammunition recovered inside of the shooter’s rooms had tool marks consistent with Haig’s reloading equipment," the DOJ said in a press release.
The DOJ also accused Haig of operating an internet business called "Specialized Military Ammunition" which sold "high explosive armor piercing incendiary ammunition, armor piercing incendiary ammunition, and armor piercing ammunition" in states like Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming, and South Carolina. The agency said Haig did not have a license to manufacture armor piercing ammunition.
Haig was released on a bond after being charged and will next be required to attend a preliminary hearing on Feb. 15 in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre is the deadliest mass shooting perpetrated by a lone gunman in the nation's history, leaving 58 dead and hundreds injured.