FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Huntington man to four and a half years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to dealing and manufacturing illegal guns.

In addition to a 54-month prison sentence, 26-year-old Adam Meekin will also serve two years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, authorities started an investigation in 2018 based on seized firearms from Indiana, Illinois and Michigan that were used in crimes, which eventually led to Meekin being identified as the man behind the guns.

Authorities learned that Meekin’s family members completed paperwork and purchased at least 122 lower receivers for Meekin, which are what the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and Explosives classifies as the actual firearm, according to court documents.

A lower receiver is a part of a gun that may include a trigger, a safety assembly, a magazine assembly or possibly a grip, stock and buffer tube.

Typically, someone cannot fire a bullet with just lower receiver, but that part is needed to complete the gun.

During the investigation, undercover officers discovered that Meekin was operating a virtual gun shop online. He had a Facebook page, a website and even business cards made up advertising what he could sell, according to court documents.

Undercover officers communicated with Meekin over Facebook and at his Huntington home over the course of roughly two years.

During an undercover meeting with Meekin in 2019, Meekin reportedly told the undercover officer that he had “made some shady (expletive) in my day,” according to court documents.

In other undercover meetings and Facebook conversations, Meekin also reportedly told authorities that “there is nothing I can’t build” and that he had “a small army of firearms,” according to court documents.

“The flow of illegally purchased firearms, especially ‘ghost guns,’ must stop,” said U.S. Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.