Source: Office of United States Attorneys
WASHINGTON – Tarell Shoemaker, 21, a previously convicted felon, was sentenced today to 51 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a machine gun, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office, and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Shoemaker, of Washington D.C., pleaded guilty on January 10, 2024, in U.S. District Court to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon and possession of a machine gun. In addition to the prison term, the Honorable Richard J. Leon ordered Shoemaker to serve three years of supervised release on completion of his prison sentence.
According to court documents, on September 8, 2023, agents from the FBI and investigators from the MPD executed a federal search warrant at an apartment on the 3000 block of 30th Street, SE. The residence consisted of four bedrooms, and nine individuals were found inside, including Shoemaker.
In Shoemaker’s bedroom, FBI agents discovered a Glock .40 caliber pistol inside of a Louis Vuitton bag stashed behind the bed; one box of 20-count “Fort Scott Munitions,” 40 S&W TUI ammunition on a shelf inside the bedroom closet; and a 9mm ammunition drum in the bedroom closet. The Glock pistol had an obliterated serial number and was equipped with an extended magazine containing 24 rounds of ammunition with one round in the chamber. The Glock also was equipped with a machinegun conversion device, also known as a “giggle switch” or a “Glock switch,” designed to convert the pistol into a weapon which shoots automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
Shoemaker subsequently acknowledged that the recovered firearm was his, and that he owned the Louis Vuitton bag in which it was found. In addition, at the time Shoemaker possessed the firearm, he was aware that he previously was convicted of an offense carrying a term of imprisonment in excess of one year. That conviction was also firearm related. At the time of the arrest for the current offenses, Shoemaker was still on probation for the Maryland conviction.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Cross Border Safe Streets Task Force and the MPD. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Coley, with valuable assistance from former Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Marin, of the Violence Reduction & Trafficking Offenses Section.