March 11, 2026, 11:36 a.m. ET
An 80-year-old North Canton man is accused of buying guns from a Stark County sporting goods store and selling them in Greece.
George Manuselis was arrested in New York on Jan. 8 while on his way to Greece. Last month, a federal grand jury indicted him on seven federal charges, all related to smuggling or lying to buy firearms.
He’s scheduled to stand trial in Cleveland on April 20 before U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio and Jeffrey Lazarus, a public defender representing Manuselis, both declined comment for this story.
Manuselis requires a Greek interpreter, according to court records.
Federal authorities began to investigate in early 2025 after several guns purchased in Stark County were recovered in Greece, as well as information about Manuselis’ arrest there in 2022.
Gun laws in that European country are more strict than in the U.S.
In a court affidavit, an ATF agent stated Manuselis may have been selling guns in Greece for the past 17 years.
The agent presented a spreadsheet documenting the North Canton man’s alleged purchases of more than 40 guns from Fin Feather Fur Outfitters in the Belden Village area, and coinciding trips to Greece.
In the affidavit, the agent wrote that Manuselis was interviewed at his home on Dec. 11, 2025, a day after he’d tried to buy eight guns. During that session, he allegedly admitted selling guns in Greece for about $3,000 each, court records indicate.
“Manuselis said that he had taken about nine firearms to Greece,” the agent stated in the records.
The agent wrote that Manuselis kept insisting that “he had a license but it appearedto be an expired concealed carry permit, not a license which permitted him to export firearms.”
At that point, the agent said Manuselis agreed to sign a warning letter. It explained such “straw purchases” are against the law. The agent stated that he also told the man it is illegal to sell guns or take them to Greece.
However, that same afternoon, a Fin Feather Fur Outfitters representative phoned the agent to say Manuselis was inside the store and attempting to buy a Glock 9 mm pistol, court records show.
Also, on that same day, Homeland Security notified the agent that Manuselis had booked a Jan. 8, 2026 flight from Cleveland to New York, then subsequent flights to Amsterdam and Athens, Greece.
According to the agent’s affidavit, Manuselis went to the same sporting goods store three more times and bought four more handguns — all during the weeks between receiving the warning letter and his scheduled flights.
Manuselis is charged with two counts of smuggling goods from the U.S. and five counts of making false statements during the purchase of a firearm.
A separate legal notice from the Eastern District of New York, indicates authorities are pursuing forfeiture of items seized from Manuselis at the time of his January arrest in Brooklyn.
The seized items: $56,712 in cash, five pistols and 950 rounds of ammunition.
Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com.On X: @tbotosREP