District Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Federal Gun Possession Charge

            WASHINGTON – Dominique N. Simms, 23, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 30 months in prison on a federal firearms charge stemming from his arrest during the execution of a search warrant at a house in Northeast Washington.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Jesse R. Fong, Special Agent in Charge for the Washington Division Office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Simms pled guilty in October 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. He was sentenced by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Following his prison term, Simms will be placed on three years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, on May 16, 2018, members of a joint MPD and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force executed a search warrant at a residence in the 5300 block of Clay Terrace NE. As officers entered the premises, they saw an unknown man run through the living room and out of the back door. Simms, who was sitting on the couch, attempted to run away from the entering officers. A search of the living room area revealed a loaded Glock 43 and a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic handgun underneath the seat cushion of the chair next to where Simms was sitting. The guns were easily accessible from the couch area. Throughout the house, police also discovered more than seven ounces, or approximately 195 grams, of phencyclidine (PCP).

            Law enforcement tested the firearms for the presence of any fingerprints or identifiable DNA. On June 12, 2018, the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences identified one fingerprint – a left palm print – of Simms on the left side of the Smith and Wesson. On July 18, 2018, DNA analysts identified Simms’s DNA on both firearms.

            The Glock 43 firearm had previously been reported stolen from a firearms store located in Rockville, Md. in 2017.

            Simms was barred from possessing a firearm because of prior convictions in the District of Columbia. In the District of Columbia, he was sentenced in 2013 for robbery. At the time of his arrest last May, Simms was on supervised release following his prison term in that case. According to the factual proffer of that matter, Simms pepper-sprayed a 66-year-old woman in Southeast Washington, stole her vehicle, and fled.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu, Special Agent in Charge Fong, and Chief Newsham commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, specifically the Cross-Border Initiative Task Force. They expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked in the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialists Catherine O’Neal and Teesha Tobias and Legal Assistant Emma Atlas. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory P. Rosen, who prosecuted the case.