SIMI VALLEY : Arraignment Set on Weapons Charges
A Simi Valley man accused of trying to sell illegal weapons will plead not guilty, his attorney said Tuesday.
Steven R. Breitel, who is known among Ventura County collectors as a gun-show promoter, has been charged with possessing a machine gun, offering a machine gun for sale, illegally converting a machine gun, possessing a silencer, and offering a prohibited assault gun for sale, Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen J. McLaughlin said.
Breitel appeared Tuesday in Ventura County Municipal Court, but his arraignment was continued until Monday.
His attorney, Richard W. Hanawalt, said he asked for the postponement so he could get more information on the case.
Bail was set at $250,000, and Breitel remained in custody at Ventura County Jail.
Deputies said last week that they had seized 48 weapons at Breitel’s house in the Indian Hills subdivision and at his office on Industrial Street in Simi Valley. Three other men and a 17-year-old boy also have been arrested in the case.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators, who took part in the investigation, have said Breitel tried to sell six machine guns for $6,000 to an undercover officer. They said he backed out of the deal and was going to sell the guns to a Los Angeles street gang instead.
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