FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
February 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOWIE FELON EXILED TO 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR GUN VIOLATIONS
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Rico Duvall Cole, III, age 37, of Bowie, Maryland, today to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a gun and possessing a gun with an obliterated serial number, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to trial testimony, on September 17, 2006 a Prince George’s Police officer on patrol observed Cole asleep or passed out in the driver’s seat of a parked car with the motor running in the 4000 block of Homer Avenue in Suitland, Maryland. After the officer called for backup, Cole woke up. As Cole began to get out of the car, the officer saw Cole grab towards his waistband and heard something metallic-sounding hit the ground. The officer directed Cole away from the vehicle. The officer recovered a loaded .380 semi-automatic pistol with an obliterated serial number from the ground where Cole had exited the car. Cole had previously been convicted of several felony offenses and thus, was prohibited from possessing a gun.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Prince George’s Police Department for their investigative work, and commended Assistant United States Attorney Michele W. Sartori, who prosecuted the case.