29-year-old Richmond man sentenced for showing machine gun on social media

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond man was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday for possession of a machine gun.

According to court documents, on April 7, 2023, 29-year-old Perry Ike Mason entered a car and took out a .40 caliber handgun with a machine gun conversion device (MCD) from his jacket, a weapon-mounted laser and an extended magazine — displaying it on a social media livestream.

The Richmond Police Department detectives viewed the video and found there was an outstanding arrest warrant for Mason from the Chesterfield County Police Department for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon from August 2022.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Mason later posted another video showing off the same gun.

The DOJ confirmed that detectives found Mason’s location to be at a restaurant in Chesterfield Towne Center — they witnessed Mason getting into a car in the parking lot and followed him to a home on Kimrod Road in Richmond. Mason then exited the car and went to a shed behind the home, where the officers arrested him for the outstanding warrant.

According to the DOJ, the detectives searched the shed and found the gun that was still equipped with the extended magazine, laser and the MCD. The gun was loaded with 31 rounds in the magazine with another one in the chamber. The MCD made the semi-automatic gun capable of fully automatic fire.

This case was a part of Project Safe Neighborhoods — which reportedly brings together different levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crimes in communities.

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