Two corrections officers at Halawa Correctional Facility are facing prison time after being accused of ordering gun components online in order to illegally modify assault rifles for fully automatic fire, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FBI agents said the men had been trying to obtain parts and instructions that would allow Colt AR-15 assault rifles to be toggled from automatic fire to semiautomatic fire with the flick of a switch.

Fully automatic rifles are illegal and possessing one is a federal offense.

Sgt. Ronald Philip Lee Jr. was arrested at 1:03 p.m. Saturday after he allegedly accepted a package containing a "lightning link," a part marketed on the Internet as necessary for converting rifles, the FBI said.

Patrick H. Sonsona was arrested in the parking lot of a Kapolei commercial building after he met Lee, allegedly to accept the part, the FBI said.

Both were charged with violating a federal law that prohibits possession of machine guns and "any part designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun."

Agents seized an undisclosed number of weapons from both men, some of which had been converted, and other evidence.

FBI officials yesterday said the arrests should not reflect negatively on the state Department of Public Service, which employs the corrections officers.

"Honolulu has an excellent Department of Public Safety with officers committed to upholding the law," said Robert J. Kauffman, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Honolulu division. "The people of Honolulu should not consider the activities of these two officers to be reflective of the Department of Public Safety as a whole."

Both men made their initial appearance in U.S. District Court yesterday afternoon.

A department spokeswoman declined comment yesterday.

"We are referring everyone to the FBI," said Louise Kim McCoy, communications director for the Department of Public Safety. "It is their investigation."

Lee worked for the state for 20 years and 11 months and Sonsona worked for the state for 15 years and four months.

The design of the Colt AR-15, the civilian version of the military's M-16 assault rifle, prevents fully automatic fire. But the gun part that Lee allegedly received overrides the design and forces the rifle to fire repeatedly as long as the trigger is pulled.

"Please understand that it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to build one of these units without special licenses and the purpose of this page is to discuss how the Lightning Link works and not to provide guidance on how to build one," reads a statement posted on Quarterbore.com, a gun enthusiast's Web site.

Once the part is purchased, the conversion to fully automatic fire takes seven steps. Do-it-yourself DVDs and CDs detailing the conversion are available for purchase online.

The investigation and arrests were handled by the FBI, the Department of Public Safety's internal affairs division, the Honolulu Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspector and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.