A third and final prison sentence was handed down in federal court this week against a Minneapolis man who was part of crime ring that sold illegal machine gun conversion devices — know as switches — and privately made “ghost guns” through Snapchat.

An undercover sting operation last year led to the arrest and charging of 23-year-old Kyrees Darious Johnson and his co-defendants, Avont Akira Drayton, 22, of Prior Lake, and Rafael Carter Wesley, 20, of New Brighton. The trio pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of machine guns.

U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank sentenced Johnson to seven years and nine months in prison Tuesday. Wesley was given a year and two months at a hearing last week, and Drayton received a two-year term in April. The sentences include three years of supervised release following incarceration.

According to the charges filed in U.S. District Court, an investigator with the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force notified the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in March 2023 about a Snapchat group called “BLICCS&STICCS3” that they suspected was trafficking machine guns, other firearms and controlled substances in the Twin Cities and outlying areas.

Investigators obtained screenshots and videos of several members of the group selling, promoting or operating devices that convert a semiautomatic pistol or rifle into a fully automatic machine gun. An undercover officer infiltrated the group and made plans to purchase such a device, called a switch or auto sear.

Between March and June 2023, undercover officers conducted six controlled buys with multiple members of the Snapchat group.

Wesley told an undercover agent he could sell him two switches for $700 or three for $900. The officer said he would pay an extra $100 for Wesley to deliver the switches to St. Cloud. Wesley agreed and the purchase was made in St. Cloud on March 27.

About a month later, the officer arranged another buy with Wesley and Johnson. The deal went down in St. Paul, with the officer buying three switches for $900.

Undercover officers then met with Wesley to buy an “unserialized” Glock 17 for $700. After buying the firearm, they asked Wesley to install a switch.

Wesley also arranged for the officers to meet with Drayton to buy a 3D-printed device for an AR-style rifle for $550 that made the rifle perform like a machine gun. During the transaction, Drayton showed the officers a video of himself shooting the gun with the device and commented that it made the weapon shoot “way too (expletive) fast” and suggested they get a heavy buffer spring to slow down the firing rate.

Drayton also sold a switch to an undercover agent for $400 in Eagan in May 2023, then a .45-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol and a switch for $1,300 the next month.

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