GRAND RAPIDS – A Lansing man who allegedly posted a photo of himself with a converted gun on social media has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
Michael Andrew Thomas, 20, pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and was sentenced Tuesday to 46 months in prison, U.S. District Court records show. Judge Paul Maloney also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.
Thomas was arrested in January after law enforcement searched his home and found a handgun with a conversion device, or “switch,” attached to it to make it fully automatic, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The gun had a magazine loaded with 34 rounds, officials said. Thomas had previously posted a photo of himself with the gun on social media, they said.
Thomas was on bond at the time in a state court case involving carjacking and assault with a dangerous weapon, the government said. During a traffic stop in September 2023, Thomas had a stolen firearm that also had a “switch” attached to it, officials said.
Thomas agreed to forfeit a Glock Model 20 Gen 4 10mm gun and a conversion device to the government.
“The prevalence of machine gun conversions is a particularly concerning trend,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a news release. “With one pull of the trigger, these devices can spray 1,000 bullets per minute.”
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared in Lansing State Journal: Lansing man, 20, gets nearly four years in prison for possessing converted handgun
