Dallas Gang Member Charged With Possessing Glock Switches

A gang-affiliated murder suspect has been charged with possessing multiple Glock switches, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Jamarion White, 19, was charged by the feds via criminal complaint with possession of a machinegun and was arrested Thursday evening. He was subsequently charged by the state with the June 9 murder of an 18-year-old boy.

“To think that some of our DFW’s most violent alleged criminals are armed with machinegun conversion devices is not just unsettling – it’s terrifying,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “Switch-equipped guns can fire faster than military-issue M4s. This is not the kind of weapon we want criminals carrying. This is why my office is focused on prosecuting switch cases—to protect our north Texas communities from the life-shattering effects of these devices.”

According to the federal complaint, on June 12, just three days after the alleged murder, law enforcement received a call about two suspicious men smoking marijuana inside a “beat-up Ford.”  When officers arrived on scene, they approached the suspect vehicle and found Mr. White, a known member of the 65 Groveside criminal street gang, in the front seat.

An officer spotted a Glock pistol under Mr. White’s leg and directed him to place his hands on the dash. Instead, Mr. White allegedly fled, leaving the gun in plain view on the seat. Officers pursued him into a wooded area, where they lost sight of him. Eventually, they located him at a nearby home after receiving a call about an unknown intruder.

When the officers returned to the vehicle to secure the firearm, it was gone. A bystander reported that during the pursuit, another man had removed a bag from the Ford and placed it in a nearby car. Officers located the bag, which contained three loaded Glocks, all equipped with machinegun conversion devices, colloquially known as “switches.”

A subsequent search of Mr. White’s social media accounts yielded photos of the defendant allegedly holding one of the switch-equipped guns, as well as a music video in which the defendant allegedly explained how switches operate and the devastation they cause.

A complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Mr. White is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If convicted of the machinegun charge, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division, and the Mesquite Police Department conducted the federal firearms investigation. The Dallas Police Department conducted the homicide investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Aulbaugh is prosecuting the federal case.

The case is part of “Operation Texas Kill Switch,” a statewide initiative taking aim at machinegun conversion devices, which transform commercially available semi-automatic firearms into fully-automatic weapons capable of firing faster than military-grade machine guns. Spearheaded by U.S. Attorneys Leigha Simonton, Alamdar Hamdani, Damien Diggs and Jaime Esparza, Operation Texas Kill Switch relies on partnerships with state and local law enforcement as well as rewards offered by Crime Stoppers.