A Wheeling man has admitted to acquiring firearms in the Ohio Valley  then shipping them to Canada and Israel.

Michael Steven Frank, 25, entered pleas of guilty to conspiracy to export firearms and money laundering in  the  U.S.  District  Court  in  Wheeling.    

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II said in a news release that Frank admitted in  court  that, from Feb. 7-Aug. 2, 2012, he unlawfully exported  24 firearms to purchasers in Canada and Israel, which is in violation of federal law.

Ihlenfeld said that at least one of the foreign sales was funded  through an unlawful money laundering transaction in which the buyer anonymously  shipped $2,000 in currency to Frank.

According to the news release, the investigation  initially  indicated  the guns were being shipped  by a man  named “Jason Silvers,” but the U.S. Postal Service determined that the shipper was actually Frank.   

Investigators then found that Frank purchased the firearms “from  local gun dealers and then obliterated the serial numbers on the weapons before shipping them outside of the country  in exchange for cash payments.”   

Frank is free on bond pending sentencing.  He faces up to 25 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $750,000.

As part  of his guilty plea, Frank will forfeit all firearms involved in the violations as well as a money judgment of $2,000.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Stein and was investigated  by the Postal Inspection  Service; US Immigration and Customs  Enforcement, Homeland  Security  Investigations   (ICE/HSI)   and  the  Bureau  of Alcohol,  Tobacco  and Firearms.