Seattle man arrested with twenty “ghost guns” and more than 100 Glock switches sentenced to 27 months in prison (DOJ)

Seattle - A 26-year-old Seattle man was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 27 months in prison for possession of a machine gun, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Andre Justice Atwater was taken into custody in June 2024, following the BB-gun shooting of two men in the parking lot of his International District apartment. Atwater was identified as the shooter, and when Seattle Police searched his apartment, they found more than 25 guns - 20 of them privately manufactured 'ghost guns,' and 103 'Glock switches' devices that turn a semi-automatic Glock handgun into an automatic fire machine gun.

"This is a very serious offense," said U.S. District Judge James L. Robart. "3D printers are most commonly used for coming up with illegal firearms."

According to records filed in the case, when law enforcement searched Atwater's apartment, they found one of the bedrooms had been turned

into a workshop for the production of firearms. Atwater had a 3D printer and gunsmith tools. In a gun safe they found 25 firearms, 20 of them unregistered homemade 'ghost guns.' Three of the Glock switch devices had been filed down for installation into a firearm. Atwater also possessed two silencers. Silencers and machine guns are illegal to possess under federal law. The 103 Glock switches seized in the apartment is the largest seizure of Glock switches in the Western District of Washington.

In asking for a three-year prison term Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg wrote to the court, "…(T)he sheer volume of firearms Atwater possessed (and likely manufactured himself), and the large quantity of 103 machinegun conversion devices, is consistent with his present and/or future intent to sell the firearms and Glock switches. But for the fortuitous law enforcement intervention, Atwater had the potential to supply the streets of Seattle with dangerous firearms and machinegun devices - all or most of which would have inevitably ended up in the hands of dangerous individuals."

Judge Robart ordered that Atwater be on supervised release for three years following prison. Atwater was sentenced in King County Superior Court to nine months in prison for the BB-gun assaults.

The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.