GRAND RAPIDS – U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten today announced that Travon Deshaun-Roderick Mansker, 26, of Battle Creek, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing over four kilograms of methamphetamine. Mansker also possessed several firearms as a felon and two of the weapons had been modified to meet the federal definition of “machineguns”.
“We choose our cases carefully, focusing the longer sentences we often secure on those who pose the greatest threat,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Travon Mansker is one of those people. He was a large-scale pill dealer selling methamphetamine masked as Adderall. And he was trafficking illegal firearms calibrated to cause maximum harm. As we’ve done here, we will continue to focus our limited resources on those who supply the firearms and drugs that cause so much pain in our communities.”
The conviction arises from an April 27, 2023, search of a Battle Creek residence where investigators seized over four kilograms of orange powder methamphetamine, 14 firearms, approximately a thousand rounds of ammunition, various high-capacity magazines, pill presses, and other drug trafficking paraphernalia. As part of his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that he intended to press the methamphetamine into pills and distribute the pills to others. The defendant had previously sold pills during the investigation that were designed to appear like the commercial drug Adderall.
Of the 14 firearms seized on April 27, two of the guns had been modified to meet the federal definition of “machineguns.” Evidence in the investigation also showed that the defendant had sold four machinegun conversion devices designed to turn AR-style firearms into fully automatic machineguns in March and April 2023. Finally, five of the firearms were “privately made firearms” or “ghost guns” designed to be untraceable to law enforcement.
A photograph of the evidence seized from the search is provided below:
“Mr. Mansker’s time as a peddler of poison in west Michigan has come to an end,” said Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge of Detroit Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “His sentence clearly demonstrates our collective resolve to safeguard our communities from the threats of drugs and firearms.”
“Removing violent offenders from our communities is ATF’s highest priority,” said ATF Detroit Field Division Special Agent in Charge James Deir. “Mansker sold poison in our community while armed with illegally modified firearms. This sentence should serve as a clear message to all armed drug traffickers in the state of Michigan, if you’re packing a firearm illegally while peddling your poison, pack your bags for prison.”
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Battle Creek Police Department (BCPD), with additional support by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Vito S. Solitro prosecuted the case.
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U.S. Department
of Justice
