District Felon Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Firearms Possession

            WASHINGTON - Mysire Poge, 23, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty today to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Special Agent in Charge Craig Kailimai of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

            Poge entered the guilty plea in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Carl Nichols. Judge Nichols scheduled sentencing for May 16, 2024. The defendant has been detained since November 9, 2023.

            According to the government’s evidence, on June 16, 2023, law enforcement officers were on the 300 block of 51^st Street, NW when Poge rode by on a moped.  Poge spotted the officers heading in his direction. He stopped, turned around, and jumped a sidewalk curb to flee southbound down a walkway on the 200 block of 51^st St. NE. The defendant pulled into an alleyway and jumped off his moped.  On the sidewalk on Division Avenue, Poge saw a uniformed police officer who was following him and again, ran towards an alley. Poge darted between two houses on Division Avenue and jumped over a chain-link fence. As Poge ran he threw a firearm that landed in a backyard. He continued to run in a circle before officers arrested him. Law enforcement recovered a Glock 27, 40 caliber semi-automatic pistol in the backyard with a 22-round capacity magazine.

            The case was investigated by the MPD and ATF as part of Project Safe Neighborhood.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shehzad Akhtar.