Arms Maker Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison : Crime: Christopher Berwick of Acton was among nine people arrested after an investigation into a white supremacist conspiracy.

A federal judge sentenced an Acton machinist to 30 months in prison Monday for conspiring with a North Hills couple to unlawfully manufacture and sell machine guns and silencers to a federal agent who posed as a white supremacist.

U. S. District Judge Ronald S. W. Lew imposed the sentence on Christopher Berwick, 46, who pleaded guilty in September to federal charges that from May, 1992, to July, 1993, he made as many as 17 Sten machine-gun receiver tubes for machine-gun kits.

Berwick told prosecutors that he obtained the machine-gun kits from Christian Nadal. Nadal and his wife Doris are serving prison sentences for their roles in the conspiracy.

Berwick and the Nadals were among nine people arrested by the FBI in July and August after an 18-month undercover investigation.

Assistant U. S. Atty. Gregory W. Jessner said he was disappointed by the sentence.

“We had argued that the sentence should be higher,” Jessner said.

Jessner said the judge apparently believed that Berwick played a minor role in the conspiracy.

“We argued that the person who actually manufactured weapons played a vital role,” Jessner said. “Lew disagreed and said he was going to give Christopher Berwick a break.”

Berwick had faced a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

In an earlier interview, Richard C. Callahan, an attorney representing Berwick, maintained that his client made only pieces of certain weapons. The attorney said Berwick became sick to his stomach when he read evidence about the white supremacy movement.

A federal jury convicted Christian Nadal, 35, in October of 15 counts of selling and transferring illegal weapons and Doris Nadal, 41, of a single conspiracy count. Throughout their trial, attorneys for the couple maintained that they were victims of government entrapment.

Lew sentenced Christian Nadal in December to eight years in prison and Doris Nadal to three years and a month.