A Warners Bay man caught with a cache of ammunition, 3D-printed gun parts and do-it-yourself firearm making manuals in his family's living room has been jailed over his plan to make a semi-automatic pistol.
Sylvester Sumendran Pillay was sentenced to 30 months in prison, with a 20-month non-parole period, in Belmont Local Court on Wednesday.
He was charged last October after Australian Border Force officers seized a 30cm long unfinished gun barrel, which the 40-year-old had ordered online from a supplier in China and had sent into Australia through the post.
The seizure prompted the October 23 search of Pillay's home - which he shared with his partner, 11-year-old child and elderly parents - where officers uncovered four 3D printers, as well as numerous gun parts and a Coles shopping bag containing about 40 rounds of live ammunition in his lounge room.
According to court documents, two of the 3D printers were operating when the Australian Border Force officers searched the premises.
The matter was referred to NSW Police, who seized the items and charged Pillay - who had never held a firearm licence or permit to keep ammunition.
Pillay was arrested during a national gun crackdown codenamed Operation Athena.
A statement of facts tendered to the court said analysis of the history in two phones seized at Pillay's home revealed he had searched several terms related to the manufacture of firearms, including "simplest submachine gun".
USB drives containing 75 PDF documents related to firearms, including files described as do-it-yourself gun-making manuals, were also confiscated.
Court documents said Pillay planned to make an FGC-9, which is a partly 3D printable semi-automatic pistol.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a digital blueprint for the manufacture of firearms, as well as one count each of possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit, and intentionally importing prohibited tier two goods without approval (in relation to the gun barrel he ordered online).
Pillay's sentence was backdated to account for time he has spent on remand. He will be first eligible for parole in December 2024.
