WORCESTER, Mass. — A Billerica man was charged with illegally dealing guns and with possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon, and was scheduled to appear in federal court in Worcester on Friday, the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts said.

Aaron Brown, 46, was arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with dealing firearms without a federal license and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, prosecutors said.

According to the charging documents, from July 2024 through October, Brown sold numerous privately made firearms, commonly known as "ghost guns," along with ammunition and a suppressor, to a person working with federal investigators.

Prosecutors said the investigation began in July 2024, when Brown allegedly sold a privately made short-barreled rifle and ammunition in Tewksbury for about $1,500. He then made a series of further gun sales to the informant in Billerica, Lowell and elsewhere in Massachusetts, prosecutors allege. In all, he is accused of selling at least 10 privately made firearms, including several short-barreled rifles, as well as ammunition, magazines and a suppressor.

During a March 2025 meeting with a cooperating witness, Brown discussed getting parts for devices that convert guns to fire automatically, according to court documents. When the conversation turned to the risk of being caught by police, Brown allegedly said that if he were caught, "it's going to suck for the officer(s)," and suggested he would make it look as though he was armed, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Brown has no federal firearms license, Massachusetts license to carry or firearms identification card. He is barred from having guns or ammunition because of a prior felony conviction, prosecutors said, including a conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Essex Superior Court, for which he was sentenced to three to five years.

The felon-in-possession charge carries up to 15 years in prison.

The charges are allegations, and Brown is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

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