By John Dobberstein, Editor
TULSA — A Broken Arrow man was recently sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tulsa for illegal possession of a machine gun, U.S. Attorney Clinton Johnson announced.
U.S. District Judge John D. Russell sentenced Derrick Carl Andrew Chatman, 25, to 24 months in prison and 1 year of supervised released.
Last July, the ATF was contacted by the Tulsa Police Department about recovering a firearm with an attached machinegun conversion device commonly known as a “switch.”
The ATF said a parent found the gun and ammunition in their juvenile’s bedroom. With the parents’ permission, the juvenile spoke with law enforcement and disclosed that he purchased the firearm at a gun show at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds. While at the gun show, the juvenile met a man, who turned out to be Chatman, who sold and installed a switch.
When law enforcement searched Chatman’s home, they found a firearm, several rounds of ammunition and a box with a shipping label from China that contained firearm switches. During the investigation, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol intercepted a second package addressed to Chatman from China that contained an additional 15 machine gun conversion devices.
State court records show that Chatman was charged in 2024 with 2 counts of unlawful possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm while committing a felony and other crimes.
Shortly after being charged, Chatman pleaded guilty, was sentenced, and was under the state’s supervision when federally indicted.
Chatman will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Leave a Reply