Miami, Florida
A prior convicted felon from Miami with alleged ties to the national “Bloods” gang and the local “77 Street” gang has been indicted by a South Florida grand jury on federal firearms charges, including illegal possession of machine guns, officials stated.
According to the Indictment, an earlier-filed criminal complaint, and statements made in court, law enforcement officers approached 22-year-old Ty’ree Dixon on May 17, 2021, as part of an investigation into gang-related violent crime and fraud.
When police confronted him, they discovered that Dixon was armed with a Glock 20 and a 10mm semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine, it is alleged.
They also located a large amount of ammunition and several firearms inside Dixon’s residence while executing a search warrant that same day, including three Glock semi-automatic pistols, a Century Arms International AK style pistol, and two pistols that had been converted into machine guns using “switch” devices, according to the allegations.
When installed on a handgun, a “switch” (technically called an auto-sear) allows the handgun to expel more than one bullet by a single pull of the trigger, turning the weapon into a fully automatic machine gun, according to statements made in court.
Law enforcement officers arrested Dixon on May 17, and South Florida federal prosecutors charged him by criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On May 21, following a hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge John J. O’Sullivan ordered that Dixon be held in a federal detention center without bond pending his trial (pre-trial detention).
On June 1, a South Florida grand jury returned an indictment charging Dixon with two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, and two counts of illegally possessing a machine gun.
Dixon faces up to 40 years in federal prison if convicted. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.