Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Charles Lee Smoot, age 41, of Hyattsville, Maryland, today to 235 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Williams enhanced Smoot’s sentence upon finding that he is an armed career criminal, based on two previous drug convictions and a conviction for assault of a police officer.

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 Angela Alsobrooks; and Hyattsville Police Chief Douglas Holland.

According to evidence presented at Smoot’s one day trial, after receiving a tip, Hyattsville Police officers arrested Smoot on October 3, 2008, at a home in the 4400 block of Oliver Street. An arrest warrant had previously been filed against Smoot. Evidence presented at trial showed that while frisking Smoot, officers recovered a loaded .38 caliber handgun from his waistband.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Hyattsville Police Department and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in this investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Stacy Dawson Belf and Michael Pauzé, who prosecuted the case.