Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found James Patrick Sychowski (48, Tarpon Springs) guilty of possessing ammunition by a convicted felon. Sychowski faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Sychowski was indicted on May 17, 2023.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on February 7, 2023, at his mother’s residence in Tarpon Springs, Sychowski armed himself with a loaded AR-15 “ghost gun” he built himself over the course of several months, threatened to kill his mother and her husband, and threatened to shoot at any police officers responding to the scene. When officers from the Tarpon Springs Police Department arrived, Sychowski fled and was later arrested in Clearwater. Officers discovered the AR-15 ghost gun on Sychowski’s bed in his room and discovered the construction materials and accessories Sychowski used to build the AR-15. Further investigation revealed that Sychowski had purchased the AR-15 components online and shipped them to the Tarpon Springs residence.

Bank statements and financial documents presented at trial corroborated Sychowski’s purchase of the ghost gun components and his purchase of PMC 5.56mm ammunition and a magazine from a local firearms store in Holiday, Florida. Evidence presented to the jury obtained from Sychowski’s cell phone corroborated the firearm and accessories purchases and featured a photograph of the same AR-15 ghost gun. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Tarpon Springs Police Department, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David W.A. Chee and David J. Pardo. 

Updated December 10, 2024