Roger Ailes was arrested in November 1974 by New York City police for "criminal possession of a weapon bomb/silencer," to which he pleaded guilty and was convicted in January 1975. | Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Photo FBI releases records on Roger Ailes

The FBI on Friday released its records on the late former Fox News executive Roger Ailes — which divulged the fact that he was once arrested on gun charges.

Ailes, who died in May 2017, was arrested in November 1974 by New York City police for "criminal possession of a weapon bomb/silencer," to which he pleaded guilty and was convicted in January 1975.


Documents for a background check conducted for Ailes when he went on to be a political consultant for President Richard Nixon were also included.

Following his departure from politics, Ailes went on to create CNBC, in addition to starting up Fox News, which was aimed to be a conservative news network competitor to CNN.

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Ailes left the Fox News network in the wake of a sexual harassment suit by Gretchen Carlson. Other female employees also related similar stories, to which Ailes denied all the allegations.

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Roger Ailes