KERRY JOHN ALLEN, 25, of Seattle, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 64 months in prison and three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm. ALLEN not only possessed the handgun, on January 15, 2009, he fired his gun twice in a busy parking lot outside of Champs Sports Bar in Skyway, Washington. At sentencing Chief U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik told him, “I can’t ignore that you fired that gun and intended to hit the person. You had no business with that gun and taking it to a volatile scene.”

According to records filed in the case, on January 15, 2009, just before 1:00 in the morning, King County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to reports of shots fired outside the nightclub on Renton Avenue South, in the Skyway neighborhood of Seattle. In the parking lot of the bar they found numerous shell casings and a gun. Two people were treated for gunshot wounds but refused to cooperate with police. A third shooting victim, ALLEN, was located at his Seattle home --medics had been called to treat a gunshot wound to his leg. ALLEN is a felon, who ultimately admitted to police that he had been at the bar, was armed with a 9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun and had fired shots at a still unidentified man in the parking lot fight.

ALLEN has three prior convictions in California for Conspiracy to Commit Assault with a Deadly Weapon (2004), Possession of Cocaine (2006) and Possession of Ecstasy for Sale (2008). These felony convictions prohibit ALLEN from possessing a firearm.

In his sentencing memo, Special Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Colasurdo urged the court of impose a sentence at the high end of the guidelines range. “Most felons convicted under this statute merely possess a firearm. Very few are convicted under circumstances where they have used the firearm, let alone fire it at another individual in a crowded parking lot. Again, Allen did not merely possess the firearm. The police did not simply discover the firearm under the seat of his car during a traffic stop. Instead, Allen used it; he used it with the intent to harm, if not, kill the unidentified male,” Mr. Colasurdo wrote in his sentencing memo.

ALLEN was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Unveiled in May 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), is a comprehensive and strategic approach to gun law enforcement. PSN is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking both new and existing local programs that target gun crime and then providing them with the resources and tools they need to succeed. Implementation at the local level -- in this case, in King County-- has fostered close partnerships between federal, state and local prosecutors and law enforcement.

The case was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office, Seattle Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Colasurdo. Mr. Colasurdo is a Deputy King County Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute gun cases in federal court.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@USDOJ.Gov.

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