FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
October 6, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DISTRICT HEIGHTS FELON SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSING A GUN
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Anthony N. Coleman, age 45, of District Heights, Maryland, today to 15 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a gun. Judge Titus enhanced Coleman’s sentence upon finding that he is an armed career criminal based on four previous drug convictions.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Theresa R. Stoop of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Cathy L. Lanier of the Metropolitan Police Department.
According to Coleman’s guilty plea, on March 13, 2010, Metropolitan Police officers made a routine traffic stop of Coleman in the District of Columbia. While officers were verifying Coleman’s information in their vehicle, he restarted his vehicle. As the officers again approached the vehicle, Coleman drove off and led the pursuing officers into Prince George’s County, Maryland. Coleman threw a .45 caliber pistol out of the car into a grassy area in Largo, Maryland, which the officers later recovered. Coleman continued to flee, but later crashed into several curbs and was ultimately apprehended in Landover, Maryland, when his vehicle became stuck in the mud.
At the time Coleman possessed the gun, he was previously convicted of a felony and thus was prohibited from possessing a gun.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF and the Metropolitan Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Stacy Dawson Belf and Cheryl Crumpton, who prosecuted the case.