LOUISVILLE, Ky – U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn, II sentenced a Louisville felon to 34 years and two months in prison this week, for possession of over 28 grams of crack with intent to distribute; possession of an assault rifle in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm; announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

On July 19, 2012, a federal jury in Louisville convicted Andrew Fields III, 41, following a two day trial. The jury heard evidence that on February 17, 2011, Fields sold crack cocaine out of an apartment in the Beecher Terrace housing project, in Louisville. Inside the apartment Fields possessed a fully loaded AK 47 assault rifle in furtherance of this drug trafficking. Fields was a convicted felon, having been convicted in U.S. District Court on October 6, 1993, for carjacking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. As a convicted felon, Fields was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Fields’ most recent firearm conviction, together with his drug conviction meant that he faced a minimum sentence of 30 years. The maximum term of imprisonment he faced was life in prison. In the federal criminal justice system, there is no parole.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Robert B. Bonar. The Louisville Metro Police Department Narcotics Unit and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation in partnership, as part of ATF’s ongoing commitment to reduce violent crime and other threats to public safety.

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