Convicted Felon Sentenced to 87 Months Imprisonment for Illegal Possession of Firearms

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A man from the Metro East will spend more than seven years in prison for 
illegally possessing firearms. Michael L. Dawson, 29, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced to 
87 months in federal prison for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

The crime occurred in December of 2019 when the United States Marshals Service located Dawson at 
his residence in East St. Louis, Illinois, and arrested him on an active arrest warrant. Agents 
recovered a total of six different guns.   One of the weapons found was a semi-automatic rifle with 
a  high-capacity  magazine.  An  assortment  of  miscellaneous  ammunition  was  also  discovered 
during the search.     Federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms or firearm 
ammunition.   A federal grand jury indicted Dawson in January of 2020, and Dawson pled guilty on 
June 24, 2021.

As part of his sentence, Dawson will serve a three-year term of supervised release following his 
release from federal prison.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), 
the United States Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Illinois State 
Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ali Burns and David Dean prosecuted the case.