Cape man pleads guilty to possession of machine gun

A Cape Girardeau man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday, Feb. 21, to possessing a fully automatic weapon.

Kaydence K. Robertson, 21, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a machine gun after he was pulled over by police in October for speeding.

During a search of Robertson's vehicle, a Cape Girardeau County deputy found a .45-caliber Glock pistol modified with an illegal 3D-printed "switch" also known as an "auto sear" to make the weapon fully automatic. A fully automatic weapon can fire multiple shots as long as the shooter holds in the trigger. The gun was equipped with the "switch" and loaded with 11 rounds in a 13-round magazine, according to a guilty plea document filed with the court.

The deputy, according to the plea agreement, also found marijuana, suspected crack cocaine, acetaminophen and oxycodone pills.

The charge can result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

The manufacturing of machine guns has been illegal since 1986. Special exceptions are made for those who build machine guns for government use.

This is the second machine-gun case that's moved through local federal court in recent weeks.

In early February, a Stoddard County, Missouri, woman pleaded guilty to selling devices that turn AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic guns. In that case, Sidney Brianne Scowden, 41, was charged with four counts of possessing and transfer of machine guns. Federal law puts the parts used to make machine guns in the same category as machine guns, even if the parts are not attached to the gun.

At the time of Scowden's case, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the machine gun case was the first in recent memory in Southeast Missouri. The spokesman, John Ham, said there has been a 500% increase in machine-gun cases across the U.S.

"The devices are either being manufactured overseas, marketed as legitimate and essentially smuggled into the country, or they're being made here with the use of 3D printers," Ham told the Southeast Missourian following the Scowden plea. "These things are highly unpredictable. They're not made by respected gun manufacturers. We've seen where you hold in the trigger, nothing happens, and when you let go, it starts firing."

Robertson posted an image of his booking photo on his public Facebook page Feb. 6. A post on his timeline stated, "I knew what came with this sh** when I signed up. F*** THE FEDS."

At the time he was arrested for the machine gun charge, Robertson was on a five-year suspended imposition of sentence stemming from Missouri convictions of unlawful use of a weapon and a felony for possession of a controlled substance.

The machine-gun case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office and the ATF.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Shelton is prosecuting the case in the federal court of the Eastern District of Missouri.