Two convicted felons, both found in possession of firearms and homemade silencers, were sentenced to prison this week in separate cases.
U.S. District Judge John A. Ross sentenced Steven Matthew Dinzebach, 35, of Franklin County, Missouri, to 72 months in prison on Friday. Upon his release, he will serve three years of supervised release.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig sentenced Bryan Daniel Flynn, 44, of Ballwin, Missouri, to 75 months in prison. Flynn will be under two years of supervised release following his prison term.
Flynn had pleaded guilty in April to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Court documents revealed that Flynn was found with 30 firearms, homemade silencers, ballistic vests, stolen property, and drugs, despite being prohibited from possessing guns due to previous felony convictions. A court-approved search of his Ballwin home, conducted by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department detectives on July 25, 2023, uncovered 4.48 grams of cocaine, .44 grams of methamphetamine, 10 Diazepam tablets, one Alprazolam tablet, and 300 grams of psilocybin. Detectives also discovered a stolen Ford F250 on Flynn’s property near Troy, Missouri, along with 27 firearms, homemade silencers, firearm accessories, ammunition, and ballistic vests.
Further investigation led detectives to two storage units in Festus, Missouri, where they found two more guns and additional ammunition. Flynn’s boat, stored in a marina in St. Charles, was found to contain another silencer, a drum magazine loaded with .22-caliber rounds, and more ammunition. On August 7, 2023, Flynn’s assistant turned in a 7.65mm Walther firearm to law enforcement, explaining that Flynn had asked her to hide it at a cabin in Ballwin.
Dinzebach pleaded guilty in May to one count of being a felon in possession of one or more firearms. Investigators caught him with a .22-caliber handgun equipped with a homemade silencer, a .380-caliber handgun, and a large quantity of ammunition. He also admitted to selling firearms to Flynn, doubling the purchase price before selling the weapons. Dinzebach stated that he acquired the firearms from a website facilitating private firearms sales. Two of the firearms seized from Flynn were traced back to Dinzebach’s wife as the original purchaser.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated both cases, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Torrie Schneider prosecuting.
