A Pulaski County teen who is facing capital murder charges in state court pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of possession of a machine gun in connection with his arrest last December by Bryant police.
Davyon Roberts, 19, of Little Rock, was arrested Dec. 20 in connection with the murders of two men who were discovered shot to death the previous evening in a stolen Volkswagen Jetta that was parked, with the engine running, near the entrance of Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock. Police later determined that the two men, identified as 19-year-old Kenneth West and 20-year-old Justice Moore, both of Little Rock, had been shot during an altercation about 2 miles away near the intersection of West 36th Street and John Barrow Road.
Roberts is facing two counts of capital murder in Pulaski County Circuit Court in connection with the killings.
A second suspect in the shooting, Davareus Clark, 19, also was charged in connection with the killings and has also been federally indicted on a charge of possession of a machine gun.
According to a probable cause affidavit dated Dec. 22, Roberts was developed as a suspect in the killings after his blue Ford Crown Victoria was identified as the suspect vehicle at the scene of the shooting. The following day, Little Rock police, acting on a tip, found the car parked in the driveway of the Bryant home of Keaton Jamal McGee, 18, who is charged with capital murder over accusations he's behind what prosecutors call the "cold and calculated" shooting death of Deante Deshawn Smith, 22, of Forrest City at an April 2021 carnival by the Outlets of Little Rock mall and Bass Pro Shops.
Both men are charged in connection with another shooting at an Otter Creek apartment complex in February 2021 that left a teenaged girl wounded with a gunshot wound in her leg.
The affidavit said that Bryant police stopped Roberts' car as he drove away from the residence and while officers conducted a pat-down of Roberts, a Glock conversion device -- commonly known as a "Glock switch," which converts a semi-automatic Glock pistol to fire automatically -- fell from Roberts' pocket.
The affidavit said that Roberts told police he owned a Glock Model 23 .40 caliber pistol that was located underneath the driver's seat of the car he was stopped in. The pistol was later located underneath the driver's seat of the car, and was missing the rear plate where the Glock switch would be installed. Roberts told police, the affidavit said, that he had purchased the Glock pistol a few months earlier at a North Little Rock gun show and the conversion switch on the dark web for $100 in Bitcoin.
At Friday's hearing, which was delayed about a half hour due to transport delays, U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson entertained the court with stories of some of his experiences while he waited for the defendant to be transported to the courthouse.
"Isn't it awful to have to sit and listen to an old judge ramble about his experiences?" Wilson asked. "If anyone else has a senior judge tale I'm happy to hear it."
After Roberts was brought into the courtroom, Wilson read the charge against him, telling the defendant that the maximum penalty he might face on the weapons charge is a 10-year prison sentence, a $250,000 fine and three years on supervised release. Wilson advised Roberts that if he were to plead guilty to the charge, he would forfeit his right to a jury trial along with a number of other rights.
"A guilty plea in open court is the strongest evidence known to the law," Wilson told Roberts. "Do you think this plea agreement is in your best interests?"
"Yes, sir," Roberts answered.
"Do you want me to approve it?" Wilson asked.
"Yes, sir," Roberts said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Eldridge outlined the elements of the offense, saying that Roberts "knowingly possessed a machine gun and that the defendant knew or was aware of the characteristics of the firearm that made it a machine gun."
Under federal law, machine gun parts, such as conversion switches and auto sears, are classified as machine guns in and of themselves.
In recent years, law enforcement in Arkansas' eastern district and around the nation have seen a significant surge in the number of Glock pistols equipped with Glock switches and of AR-15 style rifles equipped with drop-in auto sears that convert the weapons to full automatic fire. U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross said his office has been concentrating much of its effort on obtaining federal indictments on defendants who are arrested in local jurisdictions with weapons who have prior felony convictions with a particular emphasis on machine guns.
Ross said in a recent statement that his office is concentrating on bringing federal charges against anyone arrested with a machine gun or the parts necessary to convert a semi-automatic weapon to automatic fire regardless of previous criminal history.
"We will pursue a Glock switch case regardless of the defendant's age or lack of criminal history," Ross said. "Young or old, felon or not, any person who possesses a Glock switch should be prepared to face federal prosecution."
Following Eldridge's recitation of the factual summary of the case, Wilson offered Roberts a moment to confer with his attorney, Latrece Gray with the Federal Public Defenders Office in Little Rock, which Roberts declined.
"How do you plead?" Wilson asked.
"Guilty," Roberts replied.
"Is that because you are, in truth and in fact, guilty?"
"Yes, sir," Roberts said.
At that point, Gray broke in to clarify her client's plea.
"Mr. Roberts still has a pending capital murder charge in Pulaski County," Gray said. "Just so we're clear, he's pleading guilty to possession of a machine gun and that portion of the facts that Ms. Eldridge just read are correct."
Following Roberts' guilty plea, Wilson set his sentencing hearing for Jan. 5, 2023 at 2 p.m.