WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – Federal agents said a convicted felon from Belleville sold illegal machine gun conversion devices known as “Glock switches” in a CVS parking lot, bragged about testing them with 1,000 rounds of ammo, and admitted he could turn firearms fully automatic for cash.
According to a complaint filed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), investigators were already looking at W. Wayne Cherry, 56, for suspected federal gun crimes when they learned he had allegedly dropped off a dangerous gift at a Belleville-area gun shop: a bag of “Glock switches.”
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Employees at Downriver Guns in Belleville allegedly told agents that in the first week of February 2026, Cherry came in to shoot his personal firearm on the range. Afterward, he chatted with staff and left his cell number. When he walked out, he left a bag on the counter.
Inside, workers found about five plastic “Glock switches,” also called machine gun conversion devices, suspected of being made on a 3D printer. Once they realized what they were dealing with, “they destroyed the items and discarded them,” court records said.
What a Glock Switch is
A Glock switch, according to the feds, is a conversion device designed to convert a Glock firearm “from a semi-automatic weapon to a fully automatic weapon.” Properly installed, the devices allow a Glock to fire more than one projectile by a single pull of the trigger “at approximately 1,200 rounds per minute.”
The devices are small, cheap, and simple to install, and can be done by swapping out the slide cover plate on a Glock. Federal law treats the devices themselves as machine guns.
Since May 1986, ATF has considered Glock conversion devices “machine guns” under the National Firearms Act. Outside of official military and law enforcement use, such devices “may only be lawfully possessed by properly licensed Federal Firearms Licensees…who have paid the appropriate Special Occupational Tax,” the complaint said.
A felony record
Before the undercover purchase with Cherry, agents said they pulled Cherry’s record. Databases showed Cherry was convicted in Georgia in 1987 after a plea to a series of felony charges, including interference with Government property, burglary, possession of a firearm and possession of tools during the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a concealed weapon, and carrying a pistol without a license. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
In 2011, Cherry pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault in Alabama and was sentenced to one year, according to the complaint.
The Undercover Call
On Feb. 18, 2026, the ATF agent, working undercover, called the cell number employees said Cherry had left. A person, later identified as W. Wayne Cherry answered, according to the complaint. The undercover agent asked about buying Glock switches.
Cherry allegedly said he did not have aluminum switches at the time but did have plastic ‘switches’ available for $20.00 each.
To prove the devices worked, Cherry allegedly sent a video via text saying, “plastic on a 17gen 3,” which the feds said is slang for a third-generation Glock 17. The clip showed a person holding a handgun, pulling the trigger, and “emptying an entire magazine with a single pull of the trigger,” according to the filing. The agent then arranged to purchase one of the plastic switches.
‘Just Having This Piece in Your Pocket Is 5 Years’
Two days later, the undercover agent, other ATF agents, and Detroit police set up an undercover buy in the parking lot of a CVS on Belleville Road in Van Buren Township.
Around 11:30 a.m., the undercover agent called Cherry to finalize the deal.
“You don’t even have to have a firearm -- just having this piece in your pocket is 5 years,” Cherry allegedly said. “If you don’t even own a firearm.”
Cherry also allegedly said that he was in possession of an M4 rifle equipped with a machine gun conversion device and that he would “convert a lower receiver to fully automatic for $600.00.” He said he could make aluminum Glock switches, but “with the cold weather, has not made any recently,” and directed the undercover agent to the CVS lot to finish up the buy.
The CVS Parking Lot Deal
When the undercover agent pulled into the CVS parking lot, they parked next to a black Chevrolet Silverado. Cherry was allegedly behind the wheel and alone in the truck.
Cherry got into the passenger seat of the undercover vehicle and handed the agent a plastic bag with five suspected Glock switches. In return, the agent gave him $20, according to court records.
During the meeting, Cherry allegedly described his 3D-printing operation. He said it cost about $400.00 for the printer and $29.00 for the filament, making the cost of five switches about a dollar to print.
Cherry then allegedly told the agent that he had gone through about 1,000 rounds of ammo to make sure they worked. He said the video he sent the undercover fed showed a 3D-printed device on his personal Glock and that he was “the one firing the weapon.”
Cherry also said he planned to manufacture aluminum conversion devices when the weather warmed up and that he sells fully automatic lower receivers for $700.00,” court records show.
Registration Check and arrest
Federal investigators said they checked the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record and confirmed Cherry has no firearms or machine guns registered to his name. Court records show a sealed warrant for Cherry’s arrest was filed on March 6, 2026.
ATF and Detroit police had been investigating Cherry since February for multiple possible crimes including felon in possession of a firearm, Illegal possession of a machine gun and dealing firearms without a license.
Cherry was temporarily detained and scheduled for a hearing on March 11, 2026.