A Fort Worth man has been federally charged on allegations that he manufactured thousands of machine gun conversion devices on a 3D printer and sold them, officials said.
Xavier Desean Watson was arrested in the parking lot of his apartment complex Thursday evening, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice. He was charged via criminal complaint with possession and transfer of machine guns.
Machine gun conversion devices, also known as Glock switches, are used to convert regular firearms into automatic machine guns.
Chad Meacham, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said the devices are easy to manufacture, quick to install and capable of inflicting great harm in just a few seconds.
“Imagine hardened criminals armed not only with pistols, potentially lethal in their own right, but also with automatic firearms rivaling those carried by the U.S. military,” Meacham said in the press release. “These half-inch pieces of plastic are putting our people at risk. We cannot let these devices proliferate on our streets.”
Three other conversion device sellers were charged earlier this year, according to the press release. Jose Corral Santillan, 19, was sentenced in October to 57 months in federal prison. Ayoob Wali, 23, and Montavion Jones, 20, have pleaded guilty and are waiting to be sentenced.
If convicted, Watson could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
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