FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
September 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BALTIMORE FOUR-TIME FELON EXILED TO OVER 19 YEARS IN PRISON
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced David Braxton, age 27, of Baltimore today to 235 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after a federal jury convicted Braxton on March 18, 2009, for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Quarles enhanced Braxton’s sentence upon finding that he is an armed career criminal based on four previous narcotics convictions.
According to testimony presented at his trial, on May 17, 2006, a Baltimore City Police officer on routine patrol saw a maroon Cadlillac Eldorado with heavily tinted windows traveling southbound. The officer followed the vehicle and checked the tag numbers to see if the vehicle was stolen. The tags attached to the Cadillac belonged to a 1989 Ford Crown Victoria, so the officer called for back-up and conducted a traffic stop in the 500 block of Martin Luther King Blvd. According to the evidence, the driver could not produce a valid registration, and the officer asked the driver and the individual seated in the rear driver side seat, to exit the vehicle while another officer instructed Braxton, who was seated on the passenger side of the vehicle, to exit. Prior to getting out of the car, the officer noted that Braxton continued to stare straight ahead, pretending to be oblivious to everything transpiring around him. Given his concerns about Braxton’s odd behavior, the fact that it was a high-crime area and that the defendant was riding in a car with license tags belonging to another vehicle, the officer began a pat-down of Braxton, during which the officer felt the handle of a gun in Braxton’s waistband. Braxton tried to push the officer away and escape, but with the assistance of additional officers, Braxton was placed under arrest and a Ruger 9mm handgun with several rounds of ammunition was recovered from his waistband.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy and her office, the Baltimore Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys George J. Hazel and James T. Wallner, who prosecuted the case.