Tucson Man Sentenced For Possessing Automatic Weapon Conversion Device

TUCSON, AZ —A Tucson man was sentenced to 57 months in prison last week for being in possession of a device that can turn a pistol into an automatic weapon, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona.

Anthony Michael Brumfield, 24, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott Rash after previously pleading guilty to one count of possession of a machine gun. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release after Brumfield serves his time in jail.

According to court records, Brumfield was arrested after posting a video on social media on Feb. 12, 2020, that showed him in possession of two conversion devices, which are designed to convert Glock pistols into automatic weapons.

Authorities said Brumfield then sold one of the conversion devices to another individual on the same date.

The conversion devices are defined as machine guns under federal law, and U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino described the devices as "inherently dangerous."

"Let's be clear, these (devices) aren't used for hunting, or for personal protection. These devices are drivers of violence in communities across America," Restaino said.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, the case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The attorney's office said it prosecuted the case as part of the joint federal, state and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, which is a key component of the U.S. Department of Justice's violent crime reduction strategy.

The PSN program involves a number of stakeholders working together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community, and then developing comprehensive solutions to address those problems, according to the Justice Department.

The PSN strategy focuses on enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders, and the program includes partnerships with locally-based prevention and reentry programs in order to achieve lasting reductions in crime, according to authorities.