BELLEVILLE MAN SENTENCED TO 37 MONTHS FOR POSSESSION OF FIREARM BY A CONVICTED FELON
A Belleville man, Edmond W. Malone, 21, who pled guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon on April 21, 2011, was sentenced in United States District Court in East St. Louis, to 37 months in federal prison on August 1, 2011, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Following release from imprisonment, Malone will serve a 3-year term of supervised release. Malone was also fined $250, and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.
A Stipulation of Facts filed with the Court stated that on July 5, 2010, officers assigned to a WAVE detail saw Malone flee from the DeShields Housing Project in East St. Louis, St. Clair County, Illinois. The officers pursed Malone on foot and found him hiding in a partially demolished building. A Glock 9mm. semi-automatic pistol was located nearby. Malone admitted to the officers that he possessed the firearm after being convicted of a felony. The Stipulation also stated that Malone previously had been convicted of a felony – namely, Aggravated Battery, in St. Clair County Case No. 09-CF-9.
The District Judge also ordered forfeiture of the firearm and 13 rounds of ammunition with which it had been loaded.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen B. Clark.
The case resulted from the efforts of the WAVE (Working Against Violent Elements) Task Force, which focuses its efforts on combating violent crime in East St. Louis, Washington Park, and surrounding communities. WAVE was formed in November, 2009, and is a collaboration of law enforcement officers from the Illinois State Police, the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI), the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, the East St. Louis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the United States Marshals Service. The WAVE Task Force receives financial support through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative, a nationwide federal program which endeavors to address gun-related violence.
