3D-printed gun-maker Wilson back in U.S.
He was arrested in Taiwan after sexual assault allegations.
Cody Wilson, the Aus tinman who created desig n s for an untraceable 3D-printed gun and has fought the federal government in court for years to publish the instructions online, was brought back to the U.S. and was expected to return to Austin on Sunday evenin ga fter being arrested in Tai- wan on sexual assault charges.
Wilson, 30, was booked into the Harris County Jail in Houston, where he has been turned over to state authorities to begin judicial proceedings. His bail was set at $150,000. It wasn’t clear Sunday whether he had an attorney yet.
Wilson was arrested at a hotel in the Wanhua District of Taipe ion
Friday by Taiwanese police assisted by the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement.
“This was a collaborative effort that demonstrates the dedication of local, state, federal and international officials working together to bring this fugitive to justice,” said Susan Pamerleau, U.S. marshal for the Western District of Texas.
Austin police got an arrest warrant for Wilson for sexual assault after a counselor contacted authorities on Aug. 22 and said a 16-year-old girl had told her she had sex with Wilson after meeting him through the dating website SugarDaddyMeet.com.
Authorities have said Wilson and the girl met at a coffee shop in South Austin before going to a North Austin hotel.
The girl told investigators that Wilson paid her $500 after they had sex and then dropped her off at a Whataburger restaurant.
Police say he flew to Taiwan after learning he was being investigated.
Wilson is the owner of Defense Distributed, the company through which he sells the designs for his 3D-printed gun, dubbed the Liberator. Law enforcement officials worry that the guns are easy to conceal and are untraceable since there’s no requirement for them to have serial numbers. Gun industry experts have said the printed guns are a modern method of legally assembling a firearm at home without serial numbers.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia had sued the Trump administration to dissolve a settlement it reached with the company over allowing it to disseminate its designs. The lawsuit by mostly Democratic state attorneys general argued that such weapons could be used by criminals or terrorists.
A federal court last month barred Wilson from posting the designs online for free. He then began selling them for any amount of money to U.S. customers through his website.
Wilson, a self-described “crypto-anarchist,” has said “governments should live in fear of their citizenry.”