[citation needed] When he was in middle school, Vickers decided that he wanted to join the United States Army Special Forces, and gained an interest in firearms during this period.
As detailed in his plea agreement, from June 2018 to March 2021 Vickers, allegedly with cooperation from Sean Reidpath Sullivan and Matthew Jeremy Hall imported machine guns and other restricted firearms under ATF Form 6 by falsely representing them as items for police department demonstration use.
At the time, Sullivan was the owner of Trident Rifles in Gambrills, Maryland and an intelligence analyst for the Department of Homeland Security, while Hall was chief of police in Coats, North Carolina.
[citation needed] Vickers also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions against JSC Kalashnikov Concern between July 2014 and March 2021, in the Southern District of Florida.
From July 2015 Vickers and several others provided promotional videography and marketing services valued between $10,000 and $200,000 to Kalashnikov Concern, receiving preferential access to the company's personnel and technical data.