Malcolm Whiteside, a 30-year-old resident of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, was sentenced to nine and a half years in federal prison for illegal firearm possession. Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson delivered the sentence following Whiteside's conviction on April 15, 2025, after a two-day jury trial. At the time of his arrest, Whiteside was under federal supervision for a previous felon-in-possession offense. The judge revoked this supervision and added an additional one and a half years to his sentence.
On August 12, 2024, Whiteside engaged police in a high-speed chase on a Madison highway that ended with him crashing into a semi-truck. After fleeing on foot to a nearby store's parking lot, he was discovered hiding in a garden shed by police officers. A loaded firearm was found beneath the floormat of the vehicle he abandoned at the crash site. Analysis from the Wisconsin State Crime Lab confirmed Whiteside's DNA on various parts of the weapon.
The firearm was fitted with an illegal Machinegun Conversion Device capable of converting it into a fully automatic weapon capable of firing 50 rounds in four seconds with one trigger pull. Such devices are considered highly dangerous due to their lack of control even for skilled users.
Officers also recovered bags containing cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl from Whiteside’s vehicle. His DNA was identified on the bag containing fentanyl by state crime lab analysts.
In court proceedings, Judge Peterson remarked on Whiteside's threat to public safety due to possessing such weapons and highlighted his criminal history as an aggravating factor in determining the sentence.
The investigation leading to these charges involved multiple agencies including City of Monona Police Department, Madison Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, and ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force. This task force includes federal agents from ATF along with state and local agency officers across Western District of Wisconsin. The prosecution was led by Acting United States Attorney Chadwick M. Elgersma and Assistant United States Attorney Colleen Lennon.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), aimed at reducing violent crime through collaboration between state and federal prosecutors along with law enforcement agencies targeting gun-related crimes.
