A 43-year-old Fresno man has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a short-barreled rifle, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced Monday in a news release.

Yahya Yaghmour, a Jordanian national who holds dual U.S. citizenship and lives in Fresno, was arrested by the FBI in August 2025 in connection with a fraud investigation, according to court records.

After his arrest, he was heard on a recorded jail call instructing his wife to dispose of something that was in a safe in their house. The FBI then searched the house and found an AR-style rifle with a barrel length of 11 inches hidden in a safe in the master bedroom behind several other firearms.

Because the rifle has a barrel length of less than 16 inches and can therefore be more easily concealed, it is considered a short-barreled rifle under the law and must be registered in the federal National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Yaghmour had not registered the rifle as required.

Yaghmour has significant experience with firearms and had previously tried to obtain work as gun salesman or gunsmith. He also admitted to authorities that he had built the AR-style rifle they found and that he knew it had a barrel length of less than 16 inches.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

Yaghmour is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Oct. 26, 2026. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.