Man gets prison for selling devices to Michigan gang that turn guns into machine guns

man is heading to federal prison after he supplied machine guns and gun conversion devices to gang members in Lansing.

Jaquan Foreman, 22 of Lansing, was sentenced to 37 months in prison and two years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten announced Wednesday, Oct. 4.

Foreman was convicted of possessing and selling machine gun conversion devices, also called switches, buttons or auto-sears, that can quickly turn semi-automatic firearms into a machine gun. With the devices, the firearms are capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute with one pull of a trigger, according to Totten.

"With this case I am sending a very clear message: if you possess a machine gun conversion device and are driving violence in your community, you are a target for federal prosecution," Totten said in a statement. "The devastation machine guns can inflict is horrific. Although violent crime rates have dropped, the spread of machine guns is a growing threat that we are attacking head on."

Foreman is a member of a Lansing-area gang that federal investigators say has been behind a "rash of violent incidents," including shootings and murders.

Investigators who searched Foreman's house found ammunition, gun parts, a pistol and a machine gun conversion device. A review of cell phones showed that Foreman was distributing the machine gun conversion devices to other gang members, including Valentino Wallace who was convicted in August for possessing a machine gun.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement to develop strategies to reduce violent crime.

As a part of that, Totten said the U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Michigan has prioritized cases in recent years that involve machine gun conversion devices.

"Possessing these devices, installed or not, is illegal under federal law and can earn up to 10 years," he said.