Michigan man gets more than 10 years for dealing drugs while armed with automatic pistol
(CBS DETROIT) - A Michigan man was sentenced in connection to operating as a drug dealer armed with a machine gun-conversion device in Kalamazoo.
Troy Davonn Morgan, 23, of Kalamazoo, was sentenced to 130 months in prison.
Despite his asks for leniency, the judge said that although Morgan is young, he is also a repeat offender who carried "an exceptionally dangerous weapon."
The weapon he had was a pistol fitted with a machine gun-conversion device, which is commonly known as a switch.
"Federal laws banning machineguns were designed to fight organized crime in the era of Al Capone," said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. "Now, nearly a century later, the spread of switches has made the destructive power of a tommy gun available to any street-level criminal with a few hundred dollars and a pistol. In the face of this rising threat, my office is committed to keeping these illegal weapons out our communities."
Morgan finished serving a federal prison sentence related to a gun crime in June 2023. He then began a term of court supervision.
Officials say that within weeks, he started selling fentanyl, cocaine and heroin in Kalamazoo.
Authorities attempted to arrest Morgan in September 2023, but he ran away through a neighborhood. When officers apprehended him, they discovered he had a machine pistol, fentanyl and cocaine with him.
"The significant sentence in this case is a testament to the investigative priorities of the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team and Kalamazoo Public Safety Crime Reduction Team," said KVET Captain Michael Ferguson. "We will continue to focus on the most serious offenders, and especially those directly involved in illegal drug sales and violent crime in the City of Kalamazoo."
