Courtlend Green, Illegal Glock Possession, St. Louis MO, 2023

ST. LOUIS – A high-speed chase and a crash into another vehicle couldn’t stop 25-year-old Courtlend D. Green from facing federal charges after police say they found him armed with two illegally modified Glock handguns and suspected narcotics. Green, a documented gang member, is now facing a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The bust unfolded after St. Louis Metropolitan Department officers, acting on intel about Green’s alleged narcotics sales, attempted a traffic stop. Green allegedly floored it, deploying spike strips and ultimately crashing into an occupied vehicle before attempting to flee on foot. After his capture, officers discovered the two Glocks equipped with “switches” – conversion devices that transform the pistols into fully automatic weapons. One Glock was loaded with a 41-round drum magazine, the other with a 20-round extended magazine.

Green’s prior criminal history makes the gun charge particularly serious. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in St. Louis Circuit Court in 2022, disqualifying him from legally possessing a firearm. Federal prosecutors are promising a hard line on this case, and others like it. U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming stated the office is “taking this extremely seriously and we will use all of the statutes and all the punishment provisions that we have available to us.”

The case highlights a troubling trend in St. Louis and across the nation: the proliferation of Glock switches. Christopher Beavers, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, revealed the ATF has seen a staggering 500% increase in recovered conversion devices as part of criminal investigations nationwide. Locally, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department crime lab has documented a similar surge – one switch seized in 2019, one in 2020, but a dramatic 27 in 2022 and three in the first five days of 2023 alone.

Fleming warned the penalties for possessing these devices are steep – up to 10 years in prison, even without installation on a firearm. However, if a weapon equipped with a switch is used in a serious drug offense or violent crime, the sentence jumps to “not less than 30 years imprisonment,” consecutive to any other sentence. Fleming specifically cited the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Terrion Smith in downtown St. Louis in March, where a Glock with a conversion device was used. Lt. Col. Michael Sack of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department emphasized the danger these weapons pose, stating they are “dangerous to our officers because of the rate of fire of these weapons,” and “also dangerous to everybody in the neighborhood because of their inaccuracy.”

The escalating violence prompted by these modified firearms is reflected in ShotSpotter data. In 2021, the system recorded 66 reports of fully automatic gunfire in St. Louis. Through December 12th of 2022, that number ballooned to 339. Officials noted the weapons are frequently moved between St. Louis City and County. Green also faces additional drug and weapon charges in state court. It’s important to remember that charges in a criminal complaint are accusations, and Green is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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