Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Memphis, TN – A federal judge has sentenced Kalen Thompson, 25, to 40 months in federal prison for possession of a machine gun. Joseph C. Murphy, Jr., Interim United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.
According to the information presented in court, on September 15, 2023, detectives with the Memphis Police Department went to an address in Memphis looking for a robbery suspect. They encountered Thompson under the carport area in possession of a 9mm Glock pistol with a conversion device (“switch”) attached, which made the firearm fully automatic. Officers ran the serial number of the weapon and determined Thompson had stolen the firearm in January 2023 and added the conversion device.
In February 2025, Thompson pled guilty to unlawful possession of a machine gun. On May 22, 2025, Chief United States District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Thompson to 40 months of federal imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
This case was investigated by detectives with the Memphis Police Department and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Musselwhite prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
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