Two 19-year-olds are facing possible felony charges after Indiana Crime Guns Task Force detectives say they caught the pair in Indianapolis with illegal firearms, drug residue and parts that can turn pistols into fully automatic weapons. The evidence is now in the hands of the Marion County prosecutor, who will decide what happens next.
Arrests and evidence recovered
Task force detectives arrested 19-year-old Jordon Spearman and 19-year-old Ovando Richardson, according to WISH-TV. Investigators say Spearman was carrying a loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine and a machine-gun conversion device, and that the gun later turned out to be stolen. Richardson was allegedly armed with a handgun equipped with a drum-style magazine, and officers reported finding small quantities of cocaine and marijuana during the searches.
Task force operations in context
Those kinds of conversion devices and oversized magazines have been popping up again and again in recent Indiana Crime Guns Task Force cases. Earlier this month, a separate sweep turned up several firearms, including two fitted with machine-gun conversion devices, underscoring the unit's focus on weapons modified to increase lethality, as reported by WRTV.
Charges and court status
Spearman was arrested on preliminary counts of possession of a machine gun and possession of cocaine, while Richardson was booked on preliminary charges that include dealing marijuana and unlawful carrying of a handgun with a prior conviction, WISH-TV reports. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will decide whether to move forward with formal charges, and online court records show cases were opened without charges in Marion Superior Court 3 while investigators finish processing the evidence. According to the reporting, a judge also approved the seizure of $1,052 in cash that officers say they recovered during the investigation.
Numbers and the bigger picture
The arrests are part of a longer-running regional push to choke off the supply of crime guns. The task force seized 115 illegal firearms and 167 machine-gun conversion devices in the first quarter of 2025, Axios reported. Law enforcement officials told Axios that narcotics and crime guns frequently travel together, and that the task force's multi-county footprint is designed to track weapons used in crimes and disrupt trafficking networks beyond a single neighborhood or city line.
What officials say
Police argue that every illegally modified gun they pull off the street is one less potential tragedy. “We will never know what type of violence this investigation may have prevented,” Chief Randal Taylor told WRTV. Detectives say they will keep following leads while prosecutors review the case file, and neighbors should expect follow-up activity as investigators work to trace the guns' origins and determine whether additional charges are warranted.
