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Press Release

Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm Offense Committed Months After Release from Prison in Shooting Case

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
Defendant Shot a Metrobus Passenger in March 2015

            WASHINGTON – Vincenzo Lomax, 22, of Temple Hills, Md., pled guilty today to a federal firearms charge stemming from his possession of a loaded firearm on July 4, 2017, in Southeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

 

            Lomax pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 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. He is to be sentenced on May 31, 2018 by the Honorable Christopher R. Cooper. He faces a statutory maximum of 10 years of incarceration.

 

            According to the government’s evidence, on July 4, 2017, just after 2 a.m., MPD officers were in full uniform patrolling the 3200 block of Buena Vista Terrace SE, when they observed a small group of individuals —including Lomax— in the middle of the street.  Lomax was wearing a backpack strapped to the front of his chest. Approximately 10 seconds after officers stopped their car to make contact with the group, Lomax took off in a full sprint.  While he ran from officers, Lomax tossed his backpack, which contained a loaded firearm, to the ground.

 

            After tossing the backpack, Lomax jumped a fence, continued running, and hid from officers at the bottom of an exterior stairwell leading to a residence.  MPD officers set up a perimeter in an attempt to ensure that Lomax did not escape. Within several minutes, police located him crouched in a fetal position hiding at the bottom of the stairwell and sweating profusely. The cellphone that he was holding was subsequently searched pursuant to a search warrant and contained several photographs of Lomax holding numerous firearms. Lomax was arrested and has remained in custody ever since.

 

            At the time of his arrest, Lomax was on supervision with the U.S. Parole Commission in connection with a March 20, 2015 shooting that took place in broad daylight aboard a Metrobus in Southeast Washington. As the bus traveled in the 2200 block of Good Hope Road SE, Lomax and a male passenger were involved in an altercation that prompted Lomax to pull out a loaded pistol. While Lomax and the male passenger physically struggled with each other, Lomax ended up shooting a wholly uninvolved innocent woman. Fortunately, the woman’s injuries were not life-threatening. Lomax pled guilty in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to two felony offenses related to the shooting and was sentenced in June 2015 to two years in prison. He faces formal revocation of his supervised release and additional incarceration separate and apart from the sentence that he faces for possessing a firearm on July 4, 2017.

 

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham commended the work of the MPD officers who investigated the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Macchiaroli, Kondi Kleinman, and Jason Feldman, and Paralegal Specialist Candace Battle.

Updated January 19, 2018

Topic
Firearms Offenses
Press Release Number: 18-9