A Detroit man who already served federal prison time for illegally possessing a machine gun is back in front of federal prosecutors after investigators say he broadcast himself on Instagram Live holding a loaded Glock. Axzavier Sincere Hudgins was charged Thursday with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a charge that carries far steeper consequences than his first case because of his prior conviction.
According to Metro Detroit News, investigators say Hudgins appeared on Instagram Live with a Glock equipped with an extended magazine and an aftermarket belt clip. Another image captured from the same broadcast allegedly showed a round chambered inside the gun, per investigators cited in the report. Hudgins is barred from possessing any firearm because of his prior federal conviction, according to the same account.
A Familiar Pattern That Started With a Restaurant Confrontation
The case traces back to a 2024 incident in which police responded to reports of armed men at an Asian corned beef restaurant on Wyoming Street, per Metro Detroit News. Surveillance footage allegedly showed Hudgins displaying the gun inside the restaurant, and police say he ran from officers before ditching the weapon along his flight route. Officers later recovered a loaded Glock 19 fitted with an extended magazine and a machine gun conversion device — commonly known as a Glock switch — along that same route, according to police cited by the outlet.
Investigators say Hudgins went on Instagram Live days after fleeing from police, talking about losing and throwing a switch. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives believed the switch he referenced was the one connected to the gun abandoned during his flight from officers. That social media activity became evidence in the prior federal gun case against him, the outlet reports, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun and was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.
Investigators Say the Behavior Repeated Itself
Five days after his initial appearance on the platform, investigators say Hudgins went live again — holding a Glock with an extended magazine and the same belt clip seen before. That repeat broadcast is now central to the new felon-in-possession charge, which was filed on Wednesday. Court documents connect Hudgins to the JTK street gang, a hybrid group identified in federal affidavits and local criminal records as operating in Detroit's 48206 ZIP code, according to Metro Detroit News' related reporting; federal agents have previously charged another 19-year-old JTK member after weapons fitted with switches were linked to a Detroit homicide.
The reliance on Instagram Live footage in Hudgins' case fits a broader pattern in Detroit, where federal law enforcement increasingly monitors live broadcasts to gather digital evidence of illegal firearm possession, extended magazines, and chambered rounds, per the outlet's reporting. Federal complaints in the city frequently include captured video frames pulled directly from social media broadcasts.
What Hudgins Faces Under Federal Law
Because Hudgins is now charged as a felon in possession rather than as a first-time offender, he faces a statutory maximum of 15 years in federal prison, up from 10 years, under penalties increased by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June 2022 and codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and § 924(a)(8), according to the Federal Register. His original machine gun charge was filed under 18 U.S.C. § 922(o), which the Department of Justice says carries a baseline maximum of 10 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 for simple possession or transfer of an unregistered machine gun conversion device.
Federal court records reviewed via GovInfo show Hudgins was indicted alongside three co-defendants — Havier Racari Jackson, William Douglas, and Robert Smith II — in the 2024 case, formally docketed in the Eastern District of Michigan as United States v. Hudgins. A subsequent court opinion in that same case, detailed by CaseMine, reaffirmed that possessing a Glock switch violates federal law and rejected Second Amendment challenges, ruling that machine gun conversion devices are not constitutionally protected arms. The ATF classifies these devices as machine guns under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b), warning that an attached switch can let a standard handgun fire up to 15 rounds in roughly two seconds by disabling the internal slide disconnector.
The Case Fits a Citywide Enforcement Push
Hudgins' prosecution lands squarely within the U.S. Attorney's “One Detroit” initiative, launched in April 2023 by U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison to coordinate federal, state, and local resources against repeat violent offenders, street gangs, and firearm conversion devices in high-crime Detroit precincts, according to the City of Detroit. The strategy is built around concentrating enforcement on the small clusters of offenders that officials say drive the bulk of violent crime.
That enforcement push has coincided with a broader decline in violence citywide. Preliminary 2024 statistics from the City of Detroit showed a 25% drop in non-fatal shootings and a 19% drop in criminal homicides, resulting in 203 homicides — the lowest yearly total the city has recorded since 1965. City and federal officials have credited targeted group-violence intervention programs for part of that decline.
Nationally, felon-in-possession cases like Hudgins' are among the most common federal violent crime charges. The United States Sentencing Commission reported that 89% of the 7,245 federal convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) in fiscal year 2025 involved defendants with prior felony convictions, with 23% falling into the highest criminal history category. It remains unclear whether federal prosecutors will also pursue supervised release violation sanctions tied to Hudgins' 2024 case, or whether the firearm shown in the August broadcasts has been recovered or ballistically linked to any recent Detroit crimes.
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