A known member of a violent Birmingham street gang has been sentenced to prison for possession of a machine gun, authorities say.
Jadan O’Neal Cooper, aka “Tallapoosa Jay,” pleaded guilty to the charge in January.
U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced the 21-year-old man to 27 months in federal prison, according to a Wednesday announce by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona.
Escalona said Cooper was a known member of H2K – Hard to Kill.
H2K is a gang that is based out of the city’s east side and is well known on the streets of Birmingham.
Police have previously said H2K is a spinoff from the GTO gang – Goons Taking Over – that operated in the eastern Birmingham and Jefferson County around 2015 through 2018 and was involved in burglaries, robberies, drug deals and car break-ins.
Cooper was arrested Feb. 1, 2024, when detectives with the Leeds Police Department, the Birmingham Police Department’s East Task Force, the FBI, and Jefferson County Sheriff Office’s Star One Aviation Unit were conducting surveillance in the Inglenook area.
Detectives had previously interacted with an individual they saw driving a red 2021 Hyundai Sonata.
A detective ran the tag number on the vehicle, and the tag returned as belonging to a white 2014 Hyundai Sonata.
Detectives confirmed that the tag had been switched, and a Birmingham police officer initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle.
As a Birmingham officer approached the vehicle, the officer noticed Cooper – who authorities said was known to police – was a passenger in the vehicle.
The officer could see an AM-15 assault-style rifle located at Cooper’s feet.
Other officers provided backup at the traffic stop, and a Leeds detective removed the firearm from the vehicle.
The gun was determined to be loaded and was equipped with plastic piece—a 3-D printed “swift link” conversion device—in the trigger assembly. The device converted the firearm to a fully automatic machine gun.
The FBI investigated the case along with the Leeds and Birmingham police and Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Darius C. Greene prosecuted.