Indianapolis man, Dwight King, sentenced to 5 years for making Glock switches, printing them on a 3D-printing machine which only took him 20 minutes to make each switch.

Indianapolis man sentenced to 5 years for making Glock switches, printing them on a 3D-printing machine which only took him 20 minutes to make each switch. A switch turns a semi automatic into a machine gun. 

An Indianapolis man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to having a Glock switch and 3D-printed firearm.

A Glock switch is a simple and illegal device that allows a conventional semi-automatic pistol to function as a fully automatic machine gun. The devices are roughly the size of a bottle cap and can be 3D-printed in less than 20 minutes.

Dwight King pled guilty to two counts of possession of a machine gun, resisting law enforcement and invasion of privacy.

He was sentenced to five years in the Indiana Department of Correction followed by four years of Marion County Community Corrections.

An ATF spokesperson told 13News agents in Indianapolis are seeing more lately as well. And, it's the same story in other cities across the country including Chicago, Houston and Washington, D.C.

"A handgun being pointed at you and fired is deadly, but imagine all 17 rounds of a magazine being shot at you at once," Ball said. "What are you supposed to do? What's a police officer supposed to do, let alone the general public?"

Tracking them down is part of the work of IMPD's Gun Violence Task Force. For nearly a year, detectives assigned to this team have been working full-time, hitting the streets, connecting shell casings to guns and then to the person who pulled the trigger.

Officers recently recovered a switch from an investigation of shots fired into a home on Indy's south side.

Ball said altering a gun like this is both a state and federal crime. The federal punishment includes up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.