Philadelphia Man Sentenced to Over 7½ Years in Prison for Illegal Gun Possession

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Shawn Eubanks, 51, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 92 months in prison and two years of supervised release by United States District Judge Joshua D. Wolson for possession of a firearm by a felon.

The defendant was charged by indictment with that offense in September 2024 and pleaded guilty in May.

As detailed in court filings, at approximately 1 a.m. on July 2, 2024, two officers with the Philadelphia Police Department (“PPD”) were outside the 39th District building at West Erie Avenue and West Hunting Park Avenue, when they heard a single gunshot from about a block away. Both officers drove towards the sound of the shot in their police vehicles and observed two males fighting on the 2100 block of West Hunting Park Avenue.

As the officers arrived, the two men separated and one of them, later identified as the defendant, started running toward a residence on that block. One of the officers noticed that Eubanks was carrying a firearm in his right hand and yelled out, “Gun!”

Eubanks ran up the steps of a nearby residence, opening the screen door and then the rowhome’s front door, with one of the police officers close behind. The officer saw the defendant swing his right arm to the right, as Eubanks stepped into the home’s enclosed porch area. Eubanks continued through another doorway and into the living room, where he sat down on a sofa.

The PPD officers followed Eubanks as he entered and observed Eubanks sitting on the couch with his hands on his knees. One of the officers handcuffed Eubanks while looking around him for a firearm, and asked Eubanks, “Where’s the gun? Where’s the gun?” Eubanks replied, “What gun?”

After escorting Eubanks out to a waiting police car, one of the officers began looking around the porch area and observed a firearm laying on top of a trash bag on the floor. The gun, collected as evidence, was determined to be a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol with serial numbers obliterated. Eubanks was not permitted to possess the firearm, due to his status as a convicted felon.

This case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski.

Note: the posting of this press release was delayed, due to the federal government shutdown from October 1, 2025, to November 12, 2025.