[CrazyIvan]

“Richard White Piquette admitted in a document filed in federal court last week that he manufactured a Noveske Rifleworks N-4 .223-caliber rifle with an eight-inch barrel. Under federal law, the rifle's barrel length should have been at least 16 inches, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.”

His crime was not building an assault rifle (when the term is used properly it means a carbine capable of full auto fire) he made a SBR- short barrel rifle.

[Durus]

If you want to be technical his crime was failure to pay a tax stamp for the NFA rifle.

[shotgun]

Sounds like he got off easy compared to Randy Weaver and his family and his dog. Probably had something to do with him being a brother officer...