A Garfield felon caught with a gun equipped with a switch to make it an automatic is headed to federal prison for a decade on a count of possession of a machine gun.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan imposed that term Thursday on Jonathan Young, 36, who had been wanted on state charges related to a shooting when police discovered the illegal weapon.
Young had been indicted last year and pleaded guilty in January.
The 10-year term was agreed to by both parties as part of a plea deal.
Prosecutors said Young was involved in a shooting last year that was recorded on city surveillance cameras.
City police executed an arrest warrant at his house on Feb. 16 of last year and recovered a stolen Glock pistol from his car with an automatic conversion kit attached to it. Such “Glock kits” are used to turn a semi-automatic into an automatic. Machine guns are illegal under federal law, but Young would have been acting illegally regardless of what kind of gun it was because he’s a repeat felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Jordan said he’s been in trouble since age 15 and has numerous felony drug convictions, plus other convictions involving assaults, but noted that he’s never paid much of a price for his crimes. He’s received probation for most of them, she said.
She said he’s been undeterred by his prior sentences so now is the time. Of particular concern, she said, is that he was wanted for aggravated assault and a gun offense at the time of the federal crime. The gun used in the shooting isn’t the same one found in his car, either. So he had at least two guns when he’s not allowed to have any.
The state shooting case is pending.
The investigation began after Young exchanged gunfire with another man on St. Marie Street on Feb. 13, 2022. Police responded to a report of shots fired and later received word from West Penn Hospital that Young was there with a gunshot wound. Officers went to Young’s house on Joan Street three days later to arrest him. The search of his rented car turned up the stolen gun with the switch, which the FBI said the original owner did not attach.
The FBI arrested Young in April of last year at the Joan Street house. Agents seized crack cocaine and another gun.
During an earlier detention hearing, a magistrate judge noted that Young isn’t supposed to be around guns at all, yet he keeps turning up with them.
His lawyer, Ryan James, acknowledged his client’s criminal past but said he’s been trying to straighten out his life. He noted that Young had been working and has a son who is excelling at Central Catholic High School.
“Mr. Young desires to do better and to lead a productive life upon his release from federal custody,” he said in asking the judge to accept the 10-year term.
In addition to the prison sentence, Horan gave Young three years of probation.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
