Courtlend D. Green, Gun Crime, Missouri 2023

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri caught with two illegally modified, fully automatic Glock handguns and suspected narcotics has been charged with a federal gun crime.

Courtlend D. Green, 25, was charged by complaint in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is in custody and is scheduled to appeal in federal court Tuesday.

An affidavit filed in support of the complaint says St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers were told that Green, a documented gang member, was selling narcotics. Police spotted Green and surrounded him in his parked car, deploying spike strips. Green drove off and crashed into an occupied vehicle a short distance away and then fled on foot before he was arrested, the affidavit says.

Police found two Glock handguns modified with conversion devices, also known as switches, that make them fully automatic, the affidavit says. One had a drum magazine containing 41 rounds and the other had a 20-round extended magazine. Police also found suspected narcotics. Green was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in St. Louis Circuit Court in 2022 and is therefore not permitted to possess a firearm, the affidavit says.

Federal and state officials at a news conference Thursday warned of Glock switches and the dangerous trend of an increase in conversion devices being used and found in the St. Louis area and around the country.

Courtlend D. Green faces charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. He is currently in custody and is scheduled to appeal in federal court on Tuesday. Charges set forth in a criminal complaint are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Green also faces drug, weapon and other charges in St. Louis Circuit Court.

Federal law states that the mere possession of a conversion device is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, even if not installed in or on a firearm. However, if a firearm with a conversion device is used while committing a serious drug offense or a crime of violence as defined by federal law, you’re looking at not less than 30 years imprisonment. This is consecutive to any other sentence you may receive.

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