photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Daequan Jermaine Rayton is pictured Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, at his trial in Douglas County District Court for first-degree attempted murder in connection with a Jan. 1, 2022, shooting at The Outhouse nightclub..

A Topeka gang member who was acquitted in a 2022 Douglas County shooting after he claimed self-defense has now been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty in federal court of illegally possessing machine guns.

Daequan Rayton, 28, and three other men who federal authorities say are known members of the Crips gang, were apprehended as part of “Operation Sob Story,” an investigation by the Homeland Security Task Force, according to a news release Monday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The men include Rayton; Marcos Esteban Arredondo, 25; Pedro Galicia-Hernandez Jr., 35; and Elijah Eugene Wilson, 23.

According to the release, a confidential informant bought machine guns from Rayton on two occasions. Subsequent evidence collected by investigators showed a connection between Rayton and Wilson. While executing a search warrant on Wilson’s home, agents found a 3D printer capable of producing firearms and silencers, machine conversion devices, hand tools for making firearms and silencers, a machine gun and a silencer.

In February 2024, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call involving “shots fired” at a park in Topeka. Witness information led authorities to Rayton. In his vehicle, law enforcement found a privately manufactured pistol that had an extended magazine loaded with “full metal jacket” rounds. The firearm had no serial number, and deputies took Rayton into custody.

Forensic lab tests later showed Wilson’s DNA inside the weapons Rayton sold to the confidential informant, and analysis showed the weapon in Rayton’s possession when he was arrested was made using Wilson’s equipment.

Rayton pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of a machine gun and two counts of illegal possession and transfer of machine guns. He was sentenced to five years.

Wilson pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession and transfer of machine guns, two counts of failure to register as a dealer and manufacturer of machine guns and one count of unlawful trafficking in firearms. He was sentenced to just under four years in prison.

Arredondo pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Arredondo sold cocaine, fentanyl and a firearm to a confidential source acting on behalf of law enforcement. He was sentenced to just over 10 years in prison.

Galicia-Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. He was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison. A confidential source made multiple controlled buys of fentanyl from Galicia-Hernandez in amounts of between 500 and 1,500 pills. Law enforcement received a tip that Galicia-Hernandez was returning to Kansas after a trip out of state and informed the Kansas Highway Patrol. During a traffic stop, a state trooper found a bag in the vehicle Galicia-Hernadez was in with what was later determined to be 16,246 fentanyl pills.

“During my tenure as U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, I have been focused on enhancing state and federal collaboration,” U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said in the release. “This operation serves as an example of the great achievements that are possible with seamless law enforcement collaboration through the Homeland Security Task Force. We will continue to work tirelessly to dismantle criminal networks to make our communities safer.”

As the Journal-World reported, Rayton was charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault in connection with a Jan. 1, 2022, shooting at The Outhouse, 1837 North 1500 Road. Rayton was acquitted on both charges after he testified that he shot the other man, Justin Vincent, in self-defense after he was punched in the face and saw Vincent holding a handgun.

Rayton was also charged with aggravated battery after he allegedly beat a man on Aug. 1, 2021, at the now-closed Allstars nightclub at 913 N. Second St., but prosecutors dismissed that charge.