CHARLOTTE — Shyheem Jaqun DuPont, a 24-year-old Charlotte man, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm fitted with a machine gun conversion device. The device, commonly known as a “Glock switch,” can transform a standard semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun. He will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
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U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina announced the sentencing, emphasizing the severe threat posed by such illegal conversion devices. “Glock switches turn a regular gun into a machine gun. They can turn a violent act into a catastrophic act in mere seconds,” Ferguson said. “We save lives by aggressively prosecuting individuals who possess and use these illegal conversion devices.” DuPont pleaded guilty to possession of a machine gun on April 11, 2025.
The sentencing stems from an incident on Feb. 21, 2024, when Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officers initiated a traffic stop of DuPont’s vehicle. DuPont, who was in the driver’s seat and had multiple outstanding felony arrest warrants, reversed his car into a marked police vehicle, striking it.
He then drove forward before reversing again and striking the police vehicle a second time.
As officers approached DuPont’s vehicle, they observed a black Glock, Model 19, 9mm semiautomatic firearm on his lap.
This firearm was equipped with a “Glock switch” and a 31-round capacity magazine.
Elsewhere in the vehicle, officers discovered additional items including a black Glock, Model 20, 10mm semiautomatic firearm and a black Springfield, Model XD-M, 10mm semi-automatic firearm.
They also located a 9mm 50-round capacity drum magazine, a Del-Ton Model DTI 15, 5.56mm semiautomatic pistol, marijuana and a digital scale.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson was joined in the announcement by Alicia Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Charlotte Field Division and Chief Estella D. Patterson of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department investigated the case. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney William Wiseman with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
DuPont is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon the designation of a federal facility.