Machine gun conversion device lands Florida man in prison

FLORIDA – A Jacksonville man has been sentenced to federal prison related to the possession and sale of a machine gun conversion device, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Darnell Donya Rice, Jr., 28, of Jacksonville, to five years in federal prison for possession and transfer of a device designed for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun and making a false written statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer during the acquisition of a firearm. Rice had pleaded guilty on August 22, 2022, the USAO said.

According to the USAO and court documents, on November 30, 2021, a confidential informant and an undercover special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) met with Rice outside of his home in Jacksonville. The confidential informant asked Rice if they could purchase two 9mm firearms that day. Rice reportedly declined, explaining that it was too late in the day, but asked if the pair knew anyone with a “Glock,” referring to a Glock semiautomatic pistol.

Rice reportedly explained that he had a Glock “switch” for sale. A Glock “switch” or “auto-switch” is a device that, when properly installed on the rear slide portion of a Glock pistol, converts the pistol into a machine gun, allowing the weapon to automatically shoot more than one round of ammunition with a single pull of the trigger.

According to the USAO, the undercover agent proposed buying the switch that day and a Glock pistol the next day for a total sale price of $1,800. After Rice agreed, he retrieved a Glock switch from inside his home and provided it to the agent, who gave him $1,000.

The following day, the undercover ATF agent met again with Rice and reportedly paid him $800 in advance for the Glock pistol. Rice then went to a federally licensed gun store and purchased a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol for $542.82. In connection with the transaction, Rice is said to have completed and signed a Firearms Transaction Record (also known as ATF-Form 4473).

Reportedly, on that form, Rice falsely affirmed that he was the actual buyer of the pistol, never disclosing that, in truth, he was buying it for the undercover agent. Afterward, Rice met with the agent and gave him the newly purchased Glock pistol, the USAO said.

On December 9, 2022, several law enforcement agents and officers reportedly drove in multiple vehicles to Rice’s home to execute a search warrant. As they were arriving, Rice, who was in the front of his home, is said to have pointed a loaded pistol toward an approaching van that contained four federal agents.

After subduing and arresting Rice, agents and officers searched his home. Inside, they reported finding a total of 23 additional firearms, including 17 semiautomatic pistols, five semiautomatic rifles, and a shotgun.

According to the USAO, one of the pistols had an obliterated serial number. One of the semiautomatic rifles was equipped with a bump-stock-type device – a device designed to enable the rifle to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger, making it a machine gun. In addition to the 23 firearms (nine of which were reportedly loaded), the agents located more than 3,400 rounds of ammunition in the home.

Investigators said they determined that beginning no later than 2018 until his arrest in 2021, Rice was engaged in the business of dealing firearms without a federal license, specifically by frequently buying and selling firearms for profit. He is said to have used social media accounts to offer firearms and ammunition for sale and to communicate with customers.

When interviewed by ATF agents, Rice reportedly stated that he had been buying and selling guns since he was 18 years old and estimated that he had bought and sold hundreds of guns, obtaining them from a variety of sources. Records from one gun store in Jacksonville allegedly show that Rice had purchased 77 firearms from that single location, paying a total of approximately $29,515.

According to the USAO, records show that Rice had made the bulk of his purchases with cash, at times purchased more than one firearm at a time (as many as four at a time), and often purchased the identical make and model of firearm multiple times, the USAO said.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Coolican.