FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
April
8, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TEMPLE HILLS MAN EXILED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON
ON GUN AND DRUG CHARGES
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Leonte Demetrius Mack, age 30, of Temple Hills, Maryland, today to 25 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a gun and ammunition; possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine; and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense.
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; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey; and Prince George’s County Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton.
Chief Roberto Hylton stated, “Leonte Mack is a violent offender who put our entire community at risk with his drug dealing and use of firearms to protect his criminal enterprise. Thanks to the coordination and hard work of our law enforcement partners, we are all safer now that he is facing 25 years behind bars.”
According to testimony at Mack’s four day trial, on December 29, 2008, Mack, attempted to shoot another man with a Taurus handgun, in front of the man’s home in Fort Washington, Maryland. Witnesses testified that upon arriving at the residence, police recovered a 9mm shell casing at the front of the home and the victim identified Mack as the shooter from a photo array. Police obtained an arrest warrant for Mack for charges including attempted murder. A search warrant was also obtained for Mack’s residence in Temple Hills.
On December 31, 2008, Prince George’s County Police officers executed the search warrant at Mack’s residence. According to trial testimony, police found Mack in the bathroom counting money; $790 in cash was recovered from the bathroom floor. The following items were found in Mack’s bedroom: a Taurus model PT92AFS 9mm Luger semi-automatic pistol, loaded with a 20-round extended magazine which still contained 19 Winchester Luger 9mm cartridges; a plastic bag containing 143 rocks of crack cocaine, weighing 40.01 grams; and a 9mm magazine loaded with 9 Winchester Luger 9mm cartridges. Testing at the Prince George’s County Police firearms laboratory determined that the Taurus handgun recovered in the Mack’s bedroom fired the shell casing found at the December 29th shooting scene.
Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau and Adam K. Ake, who prosecuted the case and Michael J. Leotta who assisted in the sentencing.