Keaton Manghane, Machinegun Possession, Louisiana 2023

NEW ORLEANS, LA – The party on Bourbon Street hit a dangerous snag last Mardi Gras when Keaton Manghane, 24, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, walked among the revelers with a loaded handgun secretly modified into a fully automatic machinegun. Manghane was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison on January 23, U.S. District Judge Sarah S. Vance declared, a term to run consecutively with any existing sentences he’s facing back in Tennessee. He’ll also be under supervised release for three years after that, and slapped with a $100 assessment fee.

The ATF says Manghane was spotted carrying the weapon around 2:00 a.m. on February 21, 2023, smack in the middle of the Mardi Gras chaos. It wasn’t just a handgun; investigators discovered he’d equipped it with a Glock auto-sear, a modification that turns a standard semi-automatic firearm into a weapon capable of continuous fire. The ATF’s testing confirmed it functioned as a genuine machinegun. Imagine that kind of firepower loose in a crowd like that.

Federal prosecutors hit Manghane with charges under Title 18, U.S. Code, Sections 922(o) and 924(a)(2), the statutes governing illegal possession of machineguns. He ultimately pleaded guilty, avoiding a potentially lengthier trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Berman, of the Violent Crime Unit, handled the prosecution, and clearly laid out a case the defense couldn’t refute.

This wasn’t an isolated incident, according to federal officials. The case is being touted as part of “Project Safe Neighborhoods” (PSN), a nationwide initiative aiming to reduce violent crime and gun violence by bringing together local law enforcement and communities. The Department of Justice launched a renewed push for PSN in 2021, focusing on building trust with communities, supporting violence prevention programs, and – crucially – focusing enforcement efforts on the most dangerous offenders.

While the feds are touting PSN’s success, the fact remains a loaded machinegun made its way onto one of the most crowded streets in America during a major holiday. The ATF investigation, though successful in securing a conviction, raises questions about how easily such dangerous modifications are obtained and how effectively they’re being kept off the streets.

Manghane’s 20-month sentence, while significant, may not be enough to deter others. The Grimy Times will continue to track this case and monitor the effectiveness of PSN in stemming the tide of gun violence plaguing cities across the nation. The question remains: how many near-misses like this are happening unnoticed?

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