Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ST. LOUIS — U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Thursday sentenced a man who was caught with fentanyl, methamphetamine and two fully automatic handguns to 65 months in prison.

Courtlend Green was spotted by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department detectives with the Mobile Reserve Unit on Jan. 3, 2023, driving into the parking lot of a supermarket in the 8300 block of North Broadway where he was known to sell drugs. Because of his history of fleeing from police, officers deployed tire deflation devices in front of Green’s Honda Crosstour before activating their lights and trying to approach Green’s car. Green sped away before crashing into another vehicle at the intersection of North Broadway and Gimblin Road. Green got out and ran before officers caught and arrested him.

Green’s Honda contained two Glock handguns that were equipped with illegal “switches,” or auto sears, that converted them into fully automatic weapons. One was stolen and had a drum magazine. The other had an extended magazine. Green, who is a convicted felon and therefore barred from the possession of firearms, admitted both possessing the firearms and buying the Glock switches for them. Officers also found about 64 grams of meth and at least 18 grams of fentanyl.

Green, 27, pleaded guilty in December 2023 to being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

In June of 2022, Green pleaded guilty in St. Louis Circuit Court to involuntary manslaughter related to a shootout a short distance from the supermarket, according to a detention motion filed in the federal case.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case.

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