A federal judge has dismissed charges filed against an Austintown man during an investigation into the wounding of a six-year-old Canfield boy.

District Court Judge Solomon Oliver on Monday granted a motion filed by the U.S. Attorney seeking to dismiss charges against 48-year-old Michael Soles, who was indicted on charges of possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm.

According to a federal indictment, Soles was caught with a machine gun; one of ten guns seized in August as part of the investigation when deputies searched two homes on Orchard Hill Drive and Maple Springs Drive in Austintown.

Soles was charged following an investigation into reports that on August 23, bullets struck a home on Barrington Drive, Canfield. A six-year-old boy was also wounded in the arm while playing in the driveway of a home on nearby Orchard Park Drive.

The motion filed by the government did not explain why prosecutors wanted the charges dismissed, and the judge's ruling did not five a reason. The U.S. Attorney has not responded to an email from 21 News seeking that information.

In February, Soles' attorney sought to suppress evidence in the case, asking the court to hold a hearing to determine if the search warrant was obtained based on false statements by investigators.

According to online court records, the court has not ruled on the motion to suppress evidence.

Calling the search "illegal and unconstitutional", Defense Attorney Larry Zukerman claims that investigators intentionally left out important information in the case to obtain a search warrant.

According to court documents, Soles admitted that he and some relatives had been firing high-powered rifles, an AK-47, and an AR-15 on a farm about eight-tenths of a mile north of where the Canfield shootings occurred.  Soles told deputies that he thought the shots in question may have been fired by another group that had been firing weapons that evening, according to the motion.

That assertion conflicts with information contained in a sheriff’s department affidavit claiming that Soles told investigators that he believed his group was responsible for firing the shots that injured the boy and were willing to pay hospital bills and damages.

After detectives told Soles they had ruled out the other group of shooters, the suppression motion says Soles suggested that they attempt to match up ammunition he brought to them with slugs recovered from the Canfield shooting scene.

The motion said Soles told detectives that the guns in question were at his brother’s house, which is on Maple Springs Drive, directly behind Soles’ Orchard Hill home in Austintown.

During the August 26th searches, an AK-47 and AR-15 were found at the brother’s Maple Springs home, while the machine gun was discovered at Michael Sole’s Orchard Hill residence.

The defense attorney argued that the deputies did not have sufficient probable cause to search Soles' Orchard Hill home and that all evidence gathered in the search of both homes should be thrown out.

No one has been charged with the wounding of the child and shooting of the home in Canfield.