Anchorage, Alaska – United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that an Anchorage man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage, to 48 months in prison for his conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On August 24, 2011, Brian Sherrod Lewis, 36, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced by United States District Judge Timothy M. Burgess.

According to Special Assistant United States Attorney Erin White, who prosecuted the case, Lewis was proven to be a convicted felon who possessed and sold an AK-47 style rifle to another person. During the sale, Lewis claimed that the firearm was fully automatic, though testing revealed that it was a semi-automatic weapon. The firearm had been reported as stolen during a residential robbery that took place in 2008. During that robbery, three masked males, one of whom was armed with a firearm, forced their way into an occupied residence and stole the AK-47, along with several rounds of ammunition. Lewis also participated in the sale of two more firearms, a Hi-Point model CF, .380 ACP caliber pistol and a Izhmash Model SAIGA, .223 Remington caliber rifle. In 1997, Lewis was convicted of robbery in the first degree, which is a felony in Alaska.

In fashioning a sentence, the Court noted the serious nature of Lewis’ crime and a need to protect the public and to deter the defendant and others from committing similar crimes.

Ms. Loeffler commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Anchorage Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Lewis. Ms. White is a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office who is funded by the Municipality of Anchorage for the purpose of prosecuting gang-related and violent crime cases.

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