Ithaca Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun and Drug Charges

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – William L. Marshall, 40, of Ithaca, New York, pled guilty yesterday to possessing a loaded semiautomatic handgun as a prior convicted felon, and possessing marihuana with intent to distribute, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo, New York Field Office, and Acting Chief of Police John Joly, City of Ithaca Police Department.

As part of his guilty plea yesterday, Marshall admitted that he possessed a loaded Lorcin .380 mm caliber semiautomatic handgun in his Ithaca residence when it was searched by Ithaca Police on August 18, 2021, pursuant to a search warrant. The handgun was reported stolen from Norfolk, Virginia in 2014. Marshall also admitted that he was a convicted felon, having been found guilty after trial in 2002 of the New York State felony of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree in Tompkins County Court, for which he was sentenced to serve eight (8) years in prison.

Marshall also pled guilty yesterday to possessing with intent to distribute over a pound of marihuana in his apartment when it was searched by Ithaca Police. As part of his guilty plea, Marshall also agreed to forfeit $37,064.00 in cash recovered during the search warrant as proceeds of drug selling.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 8, 2022, in Binghamton, New York, at which time Marshall faces a maximum sentence of up to 10-years imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000.00 for his conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. For his conviction for possession of a controlled substance (marihuana) with intent to distribute, Marshall faces a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and term of supervised release of at least 2 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case is being investigated by City of Ithaca Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.