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Press Release

Volusia County Armed Career Criminal Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Orlando, Florida - U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell yesterday sentenced Christopher Holladay (37, Deland) to 15 years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Holladay pleaded guilty on April 30, 2013.

According to his plea agreement, Holladay, a previously convicted felon, sold a stolen Remington rifle to an undercover officer and a confidential informant for $350 on August 2, 2012. The rifle had been stolen the day before in a residential burglary. Later that month, a deputy with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office stopped a vehicle being driven by Holladay. A drug detection canine alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle. In a subsequent search of the vehicle, investigators found marijuana and methamphetamine.

Holladay has ten prior state felony convictions, including drug possession, conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine, grand theft, robbery, burglary, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, resisting an officer with violence, accessory after the fact, and failure of a career offender to properly register. As a previously convicted felon, Holladay is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law. As a result of his prior criminal record, Holladay qualified for enhanced sentencing as an Armed Career Criminal under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.

It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Julie Torres, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

Updated January 26, 2015