
Anchorage man sentenced on felon in possession charge
Anchorage, Alaska – United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that Andrea Vickers, 22, of Anchorage, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon.
Senior United States District Judge H. Russell Holland also placed Vickers on three years of formal supervision after his release, and ordered him to submit to drug testing and treatment during that time.
Vickers pled guilty on September 29, 2011, admitting that in March 2011, he had unlawfully possessed .22 caliber ammunition when he was booked into the Anchorage Jail for a traffic offense. Testimony at the sentencing hearing from the Anchorage Police Department established that Vickers has been associated with violent street gangs in the community since he was 14 years old. One former friend of Vickers testified that he pistol-whipped her in July 2011, and another witness testified that Vickers asked her to lie for him and falsely say that a firearm found in his car belonged to her.
Judge Holland mentioned Vickers’ “long history of violence” when imposing the maximum sentence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Vickers still faces charges in state court stemming from the beating of the woman in July.
The case was investigated by the Anchorage Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a long-standing cooperative effort between the Municipality of Anchorage and the United States Attorney’s Office to identify and prosecute violent gang offenders. Ms. Loeffler commended the Project Safe Neighborhoods on the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Vickers.