Aryan Brotherhood Member Convicted Of Possessing A Firearm

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury today found Michael Wilson (43, New Port Richey), also known as “Moon Lake Mike,” guilty of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Wilson faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 12, 2017. Wilson was indicted on July 26, 2016. 

According to evidence presented at trial, on December 11, 2015, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team executed a search warrant at a residence in Hudson where Wilson was found barricaded in a bedroom surrounded by drugs, cash, white supremacist-related items, and a loaded .45 caliber firearm. Several witnesses testified that the firearm belonged to Wilson and that he carried it with him as he sold methamphetamine to others in the area. Wilson, an admitted member of the Aryan Brotherhood, is a previously convicted felon and therefore was prohibited from carrying a firearm or ammunition under federal law.  His priors include two convictions for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, four convictions for grand theft, as well as convictions for armed burglary, sale and possession of cocaine, felonious possession of a firearm, and fleeing and eluding.  

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman.

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN) - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy.  United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Daryl R. McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also part of the PSN Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative (CAGI). CAGI’s objective is to reduce criminal gangs, violent crime, and illegal drugs and guns through swift, thorough enforcement and prosecution, along with prevention and re-entry efforts.