Following a landmark ruling in D.C., Keimontay Holston, a 21-year-old Washington resident, was found guilty of possessing a machine gun among other firearm charges, representing the first such conviction since a recent overhaul in gun legislation. As reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the jury delivered the verdict on October 2, 2024, following a Superior Court trial presided over by Judge Robert Salerno.
The evidence presented during the trial indicated that on the morning of June 6, 2024, Metropolitan Police Department officers executed a search warrant at Holston's home. Upon entry, they discovered a 9mm Glock 17 with a "giggle" switch attachment, which effectively converted the handgun into a machine gun, by enabling it to discharge multiple rounds in rapid succession. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves underscored the gravity of this case, indicating, "This is the first guilty verdict, at trial, under this new statute, and we expect many more such verdicts."
Holston was arrested at his apartment, in the 2300 block of Hartford Street, SE, and has been detained since the day of the search. The jurors found him guilty of possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, possession of an unregistered firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition, in addition to the machine gun charge. The latter was recently reclassified from a misdemeanor to a felony under the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024. This new classification aims to address the growing concern over the presence of illegal firearms and conversion devices in urban areas.
"As a result of the recently enacted Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act, it is now a felony to possess one of these conversion devices that transform handguns into the types of machine guns that mobsters used in the 1920s and 30s," said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves in a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. He further likened the impact of the new statute to historical efforts that successfully removed such weaponry from American streets decades earlier. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Comber, and Holston's sentencing, is scheduled for December 11, 2024.
