A Calhoun County resident has been sentenced to 39 months in federal prison for illegally possessing a machinegun, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
Austin Heath Church, 38, from Anniston, Alabama, was sentenced by United States District Judge Corey L. Maze after pleading guilty in September 2025 to two counts of possession of a machine gun.
The plea agreement details that on February 8, 2025, Jacksonville Police officers were investigating an alleged violation of a Protection from Abuse Order in Jacksonville, Alabama. Officers found Church in a business parking lot and approached him as he exited his vehicle. While speaking with Church, they observed a magazine pouch on his hip containing three loaded Glock magazines. Officers also recovered a Glock 9mm pistol converted into a machinegun using a conversion device known as a “Glock switch” from his waistband. After obtaining and executing a search warrant for Church’s vehicle, officers found seven more firearms and another machinegun conversion device designed for an AR-type rifle.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case alongside the Jacksonville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittney L. Plyler prosecuted the case.
