Rock County Man Sentenced to 6 1/2 Years for Illegally Possessing Firearms and Maintaining a Drug House

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Byron D. Broomfield, 37, Beloit, Wisconsin, was sentenced on June 4, 2024, by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 6 ½ years in federal prison for possessing firearms after a felony conviction and maintaining a drug-involved premises. Broomfield pleaded guilty to these charges on February 14, 2024.

The Beloit Police Department began investigating Broomfield for drug trafficking in January 2023. During their investigation, police found evidence of substantial marijuana dealing in Broomfield’s trash. On March 6, officers stationed outside of Broomfield’s home observed Broomfield and another man enter Broomfield’s residence with an empty bag. After a short time, the other individual left the home with that same bag full. A few hours later, officers watched another two individuals drive to the home, enter the residence with an empty backpack, and leave a short time later with that backpack full. Officers stopped those individuals and found two pounds of marijuana in that backpack. The individuals told officers that they bought the marijuana from Broomfield, who was also known to associate with firearms.

Police then obtained and executed a search warrant at Broomfield’s residence and found 6,599 grams of marijuana commercially packaged for distribution and a loaded Taurus G3C 9mm handgun that had Broomfield’s DNA on it. Officers also searched Broomfield’s car and found a Glock Model 19 handgun with a Glock “switch” attached, and a Masterpiece Arms Defender 9mm handgun with an obliterated serial number.

A Glock switch is a common name for an illegal after-market device that converts a semi-automatic handgun into a fully functioning machine gun. An obliterated serial number is a serial number that has been altered or destroyed, making it more difficult to identify the firearm or trace it to other crimes. 

At sentencing, Judge Conley emphasized that gun violence “plagues the nation” and added that the Beloit community was no exception. Judge Conley additionally considered the incredible danger Broomfield posed to the public by possessing a handgun with a Glock switch.

 This is Broomfield’s second federal felony conviction. In 2010, Broomfield was convicted of distributing cocaine in the Western District of Wisconsin.

The charges against Broomfield were the result of an investigation conducted by the Beloit Police Department, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Wisconsin State Patrol, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Ginsberg.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.