BAY CITY, MI -- A reality TV star famed for living with a plethora of relatives is facing a federal charge that he tried to modify some AR-15s to be fully automatic.

Brandon Putman, one of 26 kin living under one Caseville roof as documented on the TLC reality TV show "Meet the Putmans," is charged with one count of illegal possession of a machine gun. The charge is a 10-year felony.

According to a Feb. 14 affidavit authored by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Special Agent Stephen N. Ross, Putman on Nov. 28 visited an Elkton machine shop and asked the owner if he could duplicate a specific metal part he provided.

"Suspicious that this may be a firearm part, (the owner) asked Putman if it was a 'music box part,'" Ross wrote. "Putman smiled and responded, 'Yes.' (The owner) later explained to me that a 'music box part' is a machinist code word for firearm parts."

Putman asked the owner to make 10 such parts for about $80 each, according to the affidavit. The part in question is "very similar to a full-automatic conversion sear for an AR-15," Ross wrote.

The shop's owner contacted the ATF and reported the encounter.

On Dec. 15, Ross met with the shop owner to examine the part, which resembled a Drop-In Auto Sear (or DIAS) for an AR-15. Once a DIAS is installed, it can convert a semi-automatic AR-15 into a fully automated assault rifle, Ross wrote.

The part bore no manufacturer insignia and lacked a serial number. Ross confiscated the part and shipped it to the ATF's Firearms and Technology Branch.

The following month, that branch replied to Ross that the part was indeed an authentic AR-15 DIAS, intended to convert a firearm into a machine gun.

On Jan. 9, an undercover ATF agent called Putman from the tool shop he had visited, claiming he was working on the part. Putman told the agent the DIAS works in "multiple applications," Ross wrote.

The agent "understood that statement to mean that Putman has successfully used the DIAS in multiple AR-15-type rifles," Ross wrote.

A DIAS registered with the National Firearms Act is legal for personal use and costs about $40,000. Putman told the undercover agent he would pay $100 per DIAS, according to the affidavit.

The National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record showed Putman had no guns or DIASes registered to him.

On Jan. 20, Putman sent a text message to the undercover agent, asking about the status on the 10 DIASes he had requested. The agent said everything was working smoothly and he would get a hold of him the next week.

Federal defender Bryan J. Sherer has been appointed to represent Putman. Contacted by The Bay City Times-MLive, Sherer declined to comment on the matter.

Putman is free on a $10,000 unsecured bond. He is to appear for a preliminary examination in the federal courthouse in downtown Bay City 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 8.

"Meet the Putmans" wrapped up its second season in the fall. The multigenerational clan's 57-year-old patriarch, Bill Putman, suffered a heart attack in Las Vegas in late January. He survived and returned home on Feb. 3.