--- title: "Air Force master sergeant gets prison time for selling AK-47 and ‘large quantity’ of meth" description: "Airman Basic Michael Reimers, 41, formerly a master sergeant, was sentenced to 32 months in prison in federal court on Tuesday." date: "2021-07-14" modified: "2021-07-15" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-michael-reimers-prison-drugs/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "News" tags: - "justice" --- # Air Force master sergeant gets prison time for selling AK-47 and ‘large quantity’ of meth ![]() *U.S. Marines and Airmen fire Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles during a foreign-weapons familiarization class at Marine Special Operations School’s Individual Training Course, April 10, 2017, at Camp Lejeune, N.C. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ryan Conroy)* An airman based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada is going to prison for nearly three years after pleading guilty to selling a large quantity of methamphetamine and for illegally selling several weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, according to a Justice Department[ press release](). Airman Basic Michael Reimers, 41, formerly a master sergeant, was sentenced to 32 months in prison in federal court on Tuesday following his arrest in September 2019. Reimers pleaded guilty in April to selling methamphetamine and dealing firearms without a license. The official charges were one count of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without a license. On top of the prison term, U.S. District Judge Kent J. Dawson also sentenced Reimers to three years of supervised release. In March, a general court-martial also sentenced Reimers to 84 months of confinement, a demotion from master sergeant to airman basic (the lowest possible rank), and a dishonorable discharge, according to[ Air Force Times](). Reimers previously served as non-commissioned officer in charge of [installation spectrum operations]() with the 99th Communications Squadron, Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry, a spokesman for Nellis Air Force Base, told Task & Purpose. He first entered the Air Force on April 12, 2000, according to the Air Force Personnel Center. From July to September 2019, Reimers allegedly sold cocaine and more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, according to [the DOJ](). He also sold an AK-47 rifle, a .25 caliber handgun, and a 12 gauge shotgun without a license. However, Reimers pleaded guilty to only one count of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of dealing in firearms without a license in federal court in April. Air Force Times reported in[ April]() that prosecutors moved to dismiss one charge of distributing a controlled substance and one charge of selling a firearm to a prohibited person at the sentencing hearing. The Department of Justice said in its press release that Reimers had been sentenced for selling meth and a firearm, so the cocaine charge may have been one of the dropped charges. Reimers is far from the first service member to dabble in the illegal drug business. In February, Marine 2nd Lt. Mitchell R. Nobis was due to be kicked out of the service after pleading guilty to attempting to sell Ecstasy on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. and for using illicit drugs at a dubstep concert, among other things. That news came just a few months after five lance corporals, one corporal, and a sergeant were all convicted of[ drug-related offenses]() during separate court-martials in November. ## More great stories on Task & Purpose - [**The Navy SEAL who shot Bin Laden in the face**]() **wants you to invest in a beer company** - **This is what it looks like** [**when a paratrooper crashes through your roof**]() - **There’s no other way to say it:** [**The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is a giant clusterf--k**]() - **What’s really going on in that** [**viral video of an airman smashing a car window** ]() - **How a** [**sergeant major’s face became a tattoo on a soldier’s leg**]() - **The Navy** [**has a 650-round ammo backpack that looks like it’s straight of of ‘Predator’**]() - **Meet the airman who got a** [**surprise promotion from the Air Force’s top enlisted leader**]() ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()