Canfield felon pleads to possessing machine gun

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Canfield man charged in federal court with unlawfully possessing an unregistered machine gun has accepted a plea deal.

U.S. District Court records show Michael G. Malvasi, 56, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. His other felony count of possessing an unregistered firearm was dropped as part of the deal.

He is set for sentencing in January.

Authorities recovered Malvasi’s unregistered machine gun during an August 2017 raid on his Timber Run Drive home, while authorities were investigating Malvasi’s son, Michael Malvasi II, who was later brought up on charges of trafficking in hashish.

Michael G. Malvasi pleaded guilty in 2011 to felony tax evasion related to his skilled-gaming business and served four months in prison. His conviction makes him unable to own or possess a firearm.

Both Malvasis were involved in a fatal vehicle crash in November 2017 along Shields Road in Canfield, though they did not report it, authorities said.

Investigators determined Malvasi II drove the vehicle that killed 23-year-old Ryan Lanzo. The elder Malvasi allegedly left Lanzo at an Austintown medical facility, where he was later pronounced dead.

Malvasi II is set for a pretrial hearing in November before Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on his charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and failing to stop after an accident, as well as the drug-trafficking charges filed after the August 2017 raid.