'Incredibly dangerous': Man sentenced for making Glock switches sold to gang members

A man who manufactured dozens of devices that transform semi-automatic handguns into machine guns, which were later sold to members of a Cincinnati gang and linked to numerous local shootings, will spend several years in prison.

Isaiah Smith, 24, was sentenced to six years on Friday by U.S. District Judge David in federal court in Covington. Smith pleaded guilty in December to possession and transfer of a machine gun.

Smith worked with two other men, Demarco Sturgeon and Denico Hudson, to transfer machine gun conversion devices, also known as Glock switches or auto sears, between themselves and others, prosecutors said in court filings.

A Glock switch is a small device installed on the back of a Glock handgun. Instead of firing one round per trigger pull, the device allows the gun to continue firing at a high rate as long as the trigger is pressed.

In 2022, federal agents started investigating suppliers of Glock switches to people involved in drug trafficking and other crimes.

When authorities searched Smith's home in April 2023, he admitted to manufacturing and distributing more than 80 Glock switches and helped agents seize the 3D printers and computers he used to make them, prosecutors said.

Smith previously said in court that it cost him between $100 and $400 to make the devices, which he would sell for anywhere between $500 to $800. Prosecutors said Smith sold most of the devices he made to Sturgeon in Kenton County, who acted as a primary distributor in the region and sold primarily to Hudson.

The Enquirer has reached out to Smith's attorney requesting comment.

Hudson was a member of a Cincinnati gang dubbed the “Button Boys,” whose name is derived from a slang term for the selector switch on a machine gun conversion device, according to Jeff Price, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The group was behind a July 2022 shooting where more than 100 rounds were fired after four of the gang’s members – each armed with handguns equipped with Glock switches – went to collect a “street bounty” on a target in Avondale, Price said during a hearing last week.

The gang's members initially purchased Glock switches from Hudson of West Price Hill, the special agent said.

A cooperating witness told investigators that Hudson was the first to deal with Sturgeon, the gang’s source for supplying the devices, who later started selling directly to the gang after forming relationships with its members, according to prosecutors.

Hudson was sentenced last month to nine years in prison and Sturgeon was sentenced to 11 years in March.

Federal and local law enforcement have warned of the growing prevalence of such devices in Greater Cincinnati .

The ATF says Glock switches make shootings more deadly because more bullets can hit the victim and it makes the weapon harder to control, meaning bullets can be sprayed around, striking innocent bystanders.

“Machine gun conversion devices are incredibly dangerous, and an acute threat to the safety of our communities,” Carlton Shier IV, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a statement. “Worse yet, they are more prevalent than ever. By themselves, these devices are illegal machine guns; and when used, they are capable of rapid and appalling damage."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Incredibly dangerous': Man sentenced for making Glock switches sold to gang members