Lansing man, 20, gets nearly four years for possessing converted handgun

GRAND RAPIDS — A Lansing man who reportedly posted a photo of himself with a converted handgun on social media has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison.

Michael Andrew Thomas, 20, pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and was sentenced Tuesday to 46 months in prison, U.S. District Court records indicate. Judge Paul Maloney also ordered him to spend three years on supervised release after leaving prison.

Thomas was arrested in January after law enforcement searched his home and found a handgun with a conversion device, or "switch," attached to make it fully automatic, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The gun had a magazine loaded with 34 rounds, officials said. Thomas had previously posted a photo of himself with the weapon on social media, they said.

At the time, Thomas was on bond in a state court case involving carjacking and assault with a dangerous weapon, the government said. During a September 2023 traffic stop, Thomas had a stolen firearm that also had a "switch," attached, officials said.

Thomas agreed to forfeit a Glock Model 20 Gen 4 10mm gun and conversion device to the government.

"The prevalence of machinegun conversion devices is an especially concerning trend," U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a news release. "With the single pull of a trigger, these devices can spray 1,000 rounds a minute."

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing man, 20, gets nearly four years for possessing converted handgun