FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WEDNESDAY - February 6, 2008

CONVICTED FELON PLEADS TO POSSESSING A FIREARM

GREENVILLE - United States Attorney George E. B. Holding announced that in federal court on February 4, 2008, MICHAEL DANIEL SMITH, 22, of Wilson, North Carolina, plead guilty before United States Magistrate Judge David W. Daniels to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on August 23, 2007, charging him with the single count.

On Sunday, February 25, 2007, MICHAEL DANIEL SMITH robbed and shot an individual in the parking lot of Oscar’s Lounge located in Wilson, North Carolina. The victim identified SMITH as the person who shot him. SMITH, a multi-convicted felon, was arrested. After SMITH was placed in the Wilson County Jail, his phone calls were monitored. During one of his telephone conversations, he told an unknown subject that after the shooting he ran and jumped two fences. SMITH stated, “the little girl [sawed off shotgun] is on the ground behind the fence.” Detectives responded to the area SMITH described and found a Savage/Stevens 12 gauge sawed-off shotgun on the ground located less than 200 yards from the scene of the shooting.

United States Attorney George Holding stated, “Felons, such as these, need to be taken off of our streets. The needless endangerment of the lives of innocent people will not be tolerated and we will continue to prosecute these cases vigorously.”

Investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Wilson Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jane Jackson served as prosecutor for the government.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.