TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) – Albert Hendrik “Henk” Van Der Merwe, of Crawfordville, Florida, was sentenced to serve 12 months in prison for importing merchandise under false invoice and for receiving unregistered silencers.
Van Der Merwe will serve a three-year term of supervised release after his incarceration, during which he will be subject to search by his probation officer. As a consequence of this conviction, he cannot own or possess firearms. The court also entered an order forfeiting Van Der Merwe’s interest in three silencers and in an Uzi 9 millimeter carbine.
Van Der Merwe was arrested April 10, 2013, after agents intercepted three silencers that he ordered from South Africa under an invoice claiming they were motorcycle parts.
Messages in Van Der Merwe’s e-mail accounts reflected that he ordered another silencer from the same supplier in the past, that he wanted these shipped “discretely.” The messages also indicated he was interested in obtaining additional silencers for friends. He requested that the silencer for the Uzi be “full-auto rated.” Examination of the weapon determined that the Uzi had been converted to a machine gun.
U.S. Attorney Marsh credited the success of this prosecution to the joint efforts of the U.S. Customs Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael T. Simpson.
