Street Gang Member Sentenced To 30 Years Imprisonment On Firearm And Drug Charges

LITTLE ROCK – Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, along with Gregory Gant, Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), announced today that Marcus Allen, aka “House,” age 39, of Little Rock, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for unlawful possession of firearms, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Allen, a multi-convicted firearm and drug felon, is a self-admitted member of the Bloods street gang.

On November 19, 2014, Allen was convicted following a three-day jury trial of the following offenses charged in the superseding indictment in Case No. 4:14-cr-00057 KGB:

• Count One: Felon in Possession of a Firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)

• Count Two: Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

• Count Three: Possessing a Firearm in Connection with a Drug Trafficking Crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)

At today’s sentencing hearing United States District Court Judge Kristine G. Baker found that Allen qualified as an Armed Career Criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) and a Career Offender under United States Sentencing Guideline § 4B1.1. Allen’s Guidelines range reflected that the offense involved a semiautomatic firearm capable of accepting a large capacity magazine. Allen also received sentencing enhancements because the offense involved three or more firearms and the offense involved a stolen firearm. Judge Baker then sentenced Allen to 300 months on Count One and 240 months 425 West Capitol Avenue, Suite 500 (501) 340-2600 Post Office Box 1229 Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-1229 on Count Two, to run concurrent to each other, and 60 months on Count Three, to run consecutive to Counts One and Two, for a total of 360 months or 30 years.

There is no parole in the federal system. When Allen is released upon completion of his 30 year sentence, he will serve six years of supervised release. As a result of Allen’s convictions, he also forfeited the following property seized from his home on March 6, 2014: four firearms and $3,443 in drug proceeds.

At trial, the evidence established that on March 6, 2014, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Allen’s residence at 7815 Burnelle, Little Rock, Arkansas. Allen had been distributing drugs from 7815 Burnelle since at least November 2013. Agents found 35.23 grams of cocaine with scales used for weighing the cocaine for later distribution in the kitchen. Agents found 1.5 grams of crack cocaine and 5.6 grams of methamphetamine packaged for distribution in Allen’s bedroom. Also in Allen’s bedroom agents found four firearms, namely, a Colt model M4 Carbine 5.56mm caliber semi-automatic rifle; a Taurus model PT92AFS 9mm semi-automatic pistol; a Norinco model MAK90 Sporter .762 caliber rifle; and a Charter Arms model Bulldog Pug .44 caliber revolver, along with ammunition. One of the firearms had been stolen from a residence in Carruthersville, Missouri, prior to Allen’s purchase of that firearm.

“Marcus Allen is a gang member and repeat offender whose main contribution to our community is a long history of drug trafficking, violence and illegal possession of firearms,” Thyer said. “Arkansas is a safer place with this individual in federal prison for the next thirty years.”

The case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program—a nationwide gun-violence reduction strategy led by ATF, in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. The case was investigated by the ATF, the Carruthersville, Mo., Police Department, and the Pemiscot County, Mo., Sherriff’s Office.