Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the reality of federal machine gun charges - not the sanitized version other law firms present, not the Hollywood fiction about automatic weapons, but the actual truth about what happens when the ATF comes for you because of a device smaller than your thumb.
Here is what nobody tells you until its too late: The federal government does not need you to possess an actual machine gun to charge you with machine gun crimes. They do not need you to fire a single shot. They do not even need you to assemble anything. A piece of metal the size of a pack of gum, something you bought for thirty dollars on social media because it looked cool, triggers the same federal penalties as possessing a military-grade M-16. And the most disturbing part - the government does not need to prove you knew it was illegal. They only need to prove you knew you had it.
That distinction destroys lives every single day in federal courtrooms across America. The ATF recovered 5,454 of these conversion devices between 2017 and 2021. That represents a 570 percent increase from the five years before. This is not a theoretical problem affecting a handful of people. This is an active, aggressive enforcement priority that is swallowing gun owners who had no idea they were committing federal felonies. The surge in prosecutions shows no signs of slowing down.
What The Law Actualy Says And Why Its Terrifying
The relevant statutes are 18 USC 922(o) and 18 USC 924. Let me break down what they mean in practical terms becuase the language matters.
Section 922(o) makes it unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun. Notice there is no intent requirement in that sentence. No "knowingly and willfully." Just transfer or possess. The simplicity is deliberate. To secure a conviction, federal prosecutors must prove: you possessed the device, the device meets the legal definition of a machinegun, and you knew you possessed something. Not that you knew what you possessed was illegal. Just that you knew you had it.
This is were people get destroyed. Heres the kicker - the legal concept at play here is called "general intent." The government does not need to show you intended to break any law. They do not need to show you researched the legality. They do not need to show you had criminal purposes in mind. They need to show you knew you had the thing. Thats it.
Todd Spodek has explained this to hundreds of clients facing these charges. The look on their faces is always the same - disbelief followed by terror. They say "but I did not know it was illegal." And the answer is always the same: it does not matter. The law does not care what you knew about the law. The law only cares that you knew you possessed the device.
Now lets talk penalties. Section 924 lays out what happens when you violate 922(o). For simple possession - meaning you just had the device, no other crimes involved - your looking at up to ten years in federal prison and fines up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Thats the baseline. Thats the "good" outcome in these cases if such a thing exists.
The Investigation You Do Not Know Is Happening
Heres were it gets interesting in the worst possible way. By the time most people learn they are under investigation for federal machine gun charges, the government has been building the case for months. Sometimes years.
Think about how you probably encountered one of these devices. Social media. Instagram. Snapchat. TikTok. Maybe a forum. Definately the internet. You saw it, thought it looked interesting, clicked a link, entered your credit card information, and provided your address. Every single one of those actions created a record that federal investigators can subpoena.
The ATF runs sophisticated operations targeting the overseas manufacturers and domestic distributors of these devices. When they take down a seller, they do not just arrest that person. They seize the customer records. They know who bought what, when they bought it, and were it was shipped. Your name goes on a list. Your address gets flagged. And then they wait.
Sometimes they conduct what is called a controlled delivery. The package still arrives at your door, but it is being watched. The moment you accept delivery, you have commited possession. Agents document it. They may not move immediately - they might wait months to see what you do with the device, to build additional charges. Or they might come through your door the next morning.
If you have ordered one of these devices online, you need to understand something: the investigation may already be underway and you would have no way of knowing.
The state to federal pipeline makes this worse. Say local police pull you over for a broken taillight. They search your car - maybe legally, maybe not, but they search it. They find the device. Now heres what happens: the local cop calls ATF. ATF takes the case federal. What might have been a state misdemeanor in some jurisdictions becomes a federal felony with ten year exposure overnight. This is routine. This happens constantly. And the defendant usualy has no idea why their traffic stop is suddenly involving federal agents.
10/30/Life: The Numbers That Should Keep You Awake
OK so we have established that possession alone carries up to ten years. But that is not were the real devastation happens. The real devastation happens with the enhancements.
18 USC 924(c) is the statute that destroys lives. If the machine gun or conversion device was possessed "during and in relation to" a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense, the penalty jumps to thirty years mandatory minimum. Not maximum. Minimum. The judge has no discretion to go lower. Read that again and let it sink in.
What counts as "during and in relation to"? The courts interpret this broadly. You have the device in your house. You also have marijuana in your house - maybe an ounce for personal use in a state were its technicaly legal under state law. Congratulations, you now have a machine gun "in relation to" drug activity. Thirty year minimum. You get in an arguement with your neighbor. Police come, find the device. Any characterization of that arguement as threatening triggers the violence enhancement. Thirty year minimum.
The numbers break down like this and you need to understand each one:
Simple possession, no enhancements: Up to 10 years federal prison, $250,000 fine
Possession during/relating to drug trafficking or violence: 30 years MANDATORY MINIMUM
Second conviction involving machine gun during crime: MANDATORY LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Notice that second conviction provision. Life. Not twenty years. Not thirty. Life in federal prison for a second offense involving a conversion device during another crime. Federal courts have upheld these sentences repeatedly. This is not theoretical.
And heres what nobody mentions about federal sentencing - there is no parole in the federal system. When you get ten years federal time, you serve at minimum 85 percent of that sentence. That is eight and a half years before any possibility of release. When you get thirty years mandatory minimum, that is twenty five and a half years minimum before you see the outside of a prison. You go in at twenty five years old, you come out pushing fifty one. For a thirty dollar device.
Consider the case of Malando Bates in the Eastern District of Texas. He was twenty four years old. He pleaded guilty to felon in possession with a Glock switch attached. The judge gave him 120 months - ten full years - and specifically noted that this was an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines. The presence of that tiny device alone justified exceeding the recommended sentence. This is not an outlier. This is the pattern.
At Spodek Law Group, we have seen these cases destory familys. Young men with no prior record, often first generation Americans trying to build lives, suddenly facing decades in federal prison becuase they bought something they did not understand on the internet. The system shows no mercy because the system was designed to show no mercy. Mandatory minimums exist precisley to remove judicial discretion, to ensure that even sympathetic defendants recieve crushing sentences.
The Defenses That Do Not Work And The Few That Might
Let me be honest about the defense landscape here becuase false hope helps no one.
The defense you want to work - "I did not know it was illegal" - does not work. This has been litigated extensively. Courts have consistently held that knowledge of illegality is not an element of the offense under 922(o). You cannot claim ignorance of the law. You cannot claim you thought it was just a cool accessory. You cannot claim you never intended to install it. None of that matters for the elements the prosecution must prove.
What does matter is whether the government can prove you knew you possessed the object. This is a narrow window, but its something. If the device was found in a car you were a passenger in, the question becomes whether you knew it was there. If it was found in a house with multiple residents, the question becomes whether it was yours. This is were a skilled defense attorney earns their fee - not by making the device legal, but by severing the link between you and the device.
Fourth Amendment challenges represent another avenue. How did police find the device? If the search was unconstitutional - no warrant, no valid exception, fruit of an illegal stop - the device gets suppressed. No device in evidence, no conviction. These challenges require immediate action and experienced counsel becuase the rules around search and seizure are technical and constantly evolving.
Constitutional challenges under the Second Amendment have been attempted since the Bruen decision expanded gun rights. Some trial courts have ruled favorably. But appeals courts have consistently reversed. The Fifth Circuit, usually considered gun-friendly, upheld the machine gun ban. Do not count on the Constitution to save you from these charges - at least not in time to help your case. The legal system moves slowly. Your prosecution moves fast. By the time any constitutional challenge works its way through the appellate courts, you will have already served years.
What actually helps: immediate intervention before charges are filed. If you know or suspect your under investigation, an attorney can sometimes negotiate with prosecutors before indictment. Early cooperation, proactive surrender of devices, demonstration that you were genuinely ignorant (even though it is not a defense, it can influence charging decisions) - these things matter at the prosecutorial discretion stage in ways they do not matter once charges are filed.
The First Fourty Eight Hours After They Find It
Let me walk you through what actualy happens when law enforcement discovers you possess one of these devices, becuase understanding the timeline helps you protect yourself.
Hour zero to hour two: Discovery. Maybe its a traffic stop. Maybe its a search warrant for something else entirely - a domestic dispute, a noise complaint that escalated, an unrelated investigation. Police find the device. The officer who finds it probably recognizes what it is - ATF has been training local departments extensively. He calls it in.
Hour two to hour six: Federal involvement begins. The local department contacts ATF. An agent reviews the situation. If you have any criminal history whatsoever, if there is any connection to drugs or violence, if there is anything that makes this case federal prosecution worthy, ATF takes it. This happens more often then not becuase machine gun cases are easy wins for federal prosecutors - 90 percent plus conviction rates. Federal prosecutors love these cases. The elements are simple. The evidence is physical. The conviction is almost guaranteed.
Hour six to hour fourty eight: You are processed into federal custody or released pending grand jury. Federal detention is different from state. Bail is harder to get. Conditions are stricter. Your suddenly in a federal facility wondering how a thirty dollar piece of metal destroyed your life.
The grand jury process follows. Federal prosecutors present their case. Grand juries indict in the overwhelming majority of cases - there is a saying that a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich, and it is barely an exageration. You will be indicted. Then the federal criminal process begins - arraignment, discovery, motions, and either plea negotiation or trial.
Heres what you need to understand: the conviction rate in federal firearms cases exceeds ninety percent. That number should terrify you. It terrifies defense attorneys. It means by the time you go to trial, the government has almost certainly already won. The question becomes not whether you will be convicted, but whether you can negotiate terms of surrender that minimize the damage.
The window for meaningful intervention is measured in days, not weeks. Every hour that passes without counsel is an hour the prosecution uses to solidify its case while you remain unaware of the storm approaching.
What Happens Now
If your reading this article, you fall into one of several categorys. Maybe your already facing charges and your researching what you've gotten into. Maybe you just learned that the device you bought is illegal and your terrified. Maybe you represent someone in this situation - a son, a brother, a friend. Whatever brought you here, the path forward requires immediate action.
Time matters in federal criminal defense more then almost any other area of law. Every day that passes is a day the government builds its case while you do nothing. Every conversation you have could become evidence. Every decision you make without counsel could limit your options later. This is not a situation were waiting to see what happens makes any sense.
Todd Spodek and the team at Spodek Law Group have handled federal machine gun cases across multiple jurisdictions. We understand the terror you feel right now. We understand the disbelief - how can something so small carry such devastating consequences? We also understand the legal landscape, the prosecutorial tendencies, the judges, and the realistic options available to you.
The federal government has enormous resources and a conviction rate that reflects those resources. But resources and conviction rates do not tell the whole story. Cases can be challenged. Evidence can be suppressed. Prosecutorial discretion can be influenced. Sentences can be mitigated. None of this happens without experienced federal criminal defense representation, and none of it happens if you wait.
The clock started the moment you learned about this problem. Call us at 212-300-5196. The consultation is confidential. Everything you tell us is protected by attorney client privilege. We will give you an honest assessment of your situation, explain your options, and help you understand what comes next. The next fourty eight hours determine the next ten to thirty years of your life. Use them wisely.
