D.C. Resident Sentenced for Possessing a Machine Gun

WASHINGTON - Kelvin Leon, 27, a resident of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 22 months in prison in connection with possessing a machine gun that he fired out the window of his Southeast Washington apartment, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Leon pleaded guilty on March 26, 2026, before Judge Amir H. Ali to one count of possession of a machine gun and one count of endangerment with a firearm. After serving his 22-month prison sentence, Leon will be deported to Venezuela.

According to court papers, on July 24, 2025, members of the Metropolitan Police Department's Violent Crime Suppression Division responded to a residence at 2400 Marion Barry Ave. in Southeast Washington after an anonymous tipster reported that a man had fired a gun out of an apartment window. Officers executed a search warrant and recovered a privately manufactured pistol, bearing no serial number and untraceable by law enforcement. The semiautomatic firearm was fitted with a device that allowed it to fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger, converting it into a machine gun.

Leon later told investigators that he fired the weapon out of the window after an argument with two men over scooters in front of the apartment building. Leon stated that he had purchased the firearm about three weeks earlier and the conversion device about a week after that, and that he learned to install the device from online videos.

The investigation was conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington Field Office.

The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole.

Officers recovered a privately manufactured pistol fitted with a device that allowed it to fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger, converting it into a machine gun.

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