Possession of 35 Machine Gun Conversion Devices Results in 21-Month Prison Sentence for Maryland Man

            WASHINGTON – Edward Devon Gadson, 27, of Waldorf, Maryland, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 21 months in prison in connection with his possession of 35 illegal machine gun conversion devices within the District of Columbia, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

            Gadson pleaded guilty on July 11 to a charge of unlawful transfer and possession of a machine gun and aiding and abetting. In addition to the 21-month prison term, Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered Gadson to serve three years of supervised release.

            Joining in the announcement were ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony A. Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            According to court documents, on Oct. 2, 2024, about 5 p.m., MPD officers stopped Gadson as he was in the driver’s seat of a Dodge Durango with heavily tinted windows on the 2300 block of Green St. SE, in Anacostia.

            MPD officers noticed a clear plastic bag in plain view on the back passenger side floor. The bag appeared to have firearms accessories in it. Officers removed the bag from the car and determined it contained dozens of machine gun conversion devices (aka MCDs or “switches”). Each device would allow a pistol to be converted into an automatic firearm. The devices had been 3-D printed and included distinctive images of an internet meme known as  “Not ATF Guy.”

            This case was investigated by the MPD and the ATF Washington Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John D. Crabb and Thomas Strong.