Two Sentenced To Federal CustodyIn Separate Firearms Cases

TOPEKA, KAN. Two Topeka men have been sentenced to federal custody in unrelated federal firearms cases, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Tyrone J. Lewis, Sr., 33, was sentenced to 30 months. Matthew L. Hoag, 22, Topeka, was sentenced to six months in a halfway house.

Lewis pleaded guilty on one count of unlawful possession of ammunition after a felony conviction. In his plea, he admitted that on Jan. 19, 2013, he called the Topeka Police Department to report that people were chasing him in a vehicle. When officers arrived in the 1600 block of SW Topeka they found Lewis in the intersection jumping back and forth as if he were avoiding multiple football tackles. Believing him to be under the influence of a narcotic, they placed him under arrest. They found four .45 caliber bullets in a plastic bag in his possession. At the time, he was prohibited from possessing ammunition because of prior felony convictions in Shawnee County District Court for aggravated robbery and attempted criminal possession of a firearm.

Hoag pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. In his plea, he admitted that officers of the Topeka Police Department encountered him on March 21, 2013, after being called to a report of shots fired. Hoag was riding in the back seat of a car officers stopped in the 1100 block of SW Lincoln. They found him in possession of a .380 caliber handgun. At the time, Hoag was prohibited from possessing a firearm because he had been convicted in June 2010 in Jackson County District Court on a charge of possession of methamphetamine.

Grissom commended the Topeka Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway for their work on the cases.