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Press Release

Mobile Man Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing a Machinegun

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Alabama

MOBILE, AL – A Mobile man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for illegally possessing a machinegun.

According to court documents, Ti’Biasz Tithese Houston, 20, was arrested in November 2023 after Mobile police responded to a shots-fired call in a residential neighborhood. Officers located Houston near the scene of the shots-fired incident in a parked SUV. After detaining Houston and others, police conducted a probable-cause search of the SUV, locating marijuana and several loaded pistols equipped with extended magazines. One of the firearms, seized near where Houston was seated in the SUV, was a Glock .40 caliber pistol equipped with a fully loaded 30-round extended magazine and an illegal machinegun-conversion device, commonly referred to as a “Glock switch,” which rendered the pistol a fully automatic weapon.

Agents seized and obtained a warrant to search Houston’s cell phone, which contained evidence of his illegal possession and sale of Glock switches. The phone contained dozens of pictures and videos of Houston illegally possessing pistols equipped with Glock switches, including the pistol that police seized from him in November 2023. The phone also contained numerous text messages that Houston exchanged with other people about selling Glock switches for profit.

In addition to the 27-month prison sentence, Senior United States District Judge William H. Steele ordered Houston to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from prison, during which time he will be subject to drug testing and treatment, and mental health evaluation and treatment. The court did not impose a fine, but Judge Steele ordered Houston to pay $100 in special assessments.

U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Mobile Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roller prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Updated January 17, 2025