Feds: Dad from ‘Meet the Putmans’ indicted on doctored AR15 – By Tresa Baldas (Dertoit Free Press) / April 30 2018
First the son. Now the father.
William Putman II, the father and central figure of a reality TV show set in northern Michigan, has been indicted in a federal gun case on charges of owning an unpopular gun that has stirred much debate: an AR15 that was converted into a machine gun.
According to an indictment unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court, the 57-year-old reality TV star has been linked to the same kind of gun that got one of his sons into trouble.
Putman II is the father of Brandon Putman, 31, of Pigeon in Huron County, who landed on the federal government’s radar last fall after authorities say he tried to buy gun parts that can turn an AR15 into a fully automatic weapon.
The younger Putman, who was criminally charged in February, also stars in the same TLC show as his father: “Meet the Putmans,” which features three generations of one family — 25 members in total — all living under one roof, sharing everything from one bank account to just two bathrooms.
The government makes no mention of the show in the criminal filings.
Attorney Paul Beggs, who is representing William Putman II, believes his client will be exonerated and that he got wrapped up in a small town dispute.
“This is a case that is going to be vigorously contested,” Beggs told the Free Press late Monday. “Mr. Putman has been caught in the crosshairs of a political hot potato.”
Beggs described Putman II as an avid sportsman, hunter and “responsible firearm owner” who has no history of violence.
“He’s a very successful businessman,” Beggs said of Putman II, noting his client has had a rough go of things lately as he suffered a heart attack months ago and has been laid up. “He’s just a very hardworking guy.”
It’s not clear from court documents what led authorities to Putman II. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives both declined comment, citing agency policy not to comment on a pending investigation.
According to court documents, Brandon Putman fell under the government’s radar last fall after asking a machine shop owner in the state’s Thumb region whether he could duplicate a metal part. The shop owner became suspicious and asked Brandon Putman whether what he was interested in was a “music box part,” which is code for gun parts, records show.
Putman smiled, said yes, and asked the shop owner whether he could make him 10 copies of the part he had brought him, records show. The shop owner said he could make 10 duplicates for $80 apiece, but soon discovered the part that he would be duplicating was similar to a part used to convert an AR15 into a fully automatic weapon, records show.
So the shop owner contacted the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives agency, which launched an investigation.
The ATF examined the part that Brandon Putman wanted copied and confirmed that it was “an authentic AR15 drop-in auto sear designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun,” according to an affidavit filed by ATF agent Stephen Ross. If that part was legally registered, the agent wrote, it would cost $40,000 apiece.
But Brandon Putman was willing to pay $100 apiece, according to a conversation he had with an undercover ATF agent who called him on the phone, pretending to be a machinist who was working on the parts he wanted, records show.
On Jan. 20, Putman sent a text message to the undercover agent, asking the status of his 10 gun parts, records show. The agent responded that everything was good that he would call him the following week.
On Valentine’s Day, three weeks later, Putman got charged with illegal possession of a machine gun and remains free on bond.
“Meet the Putmans” aired on TLC last fall. The TLC series showed the family sharing their ups, downs, and most intimate thoughts as they lived the American dream on their own terms.
