Great American Tower Shooter Pleads Guilty to Federal Gun Charge

CINCINNATI – Rayshaun L. Herald, 23, of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense.

Benjamin C. Glassman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Brad Earman, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac announced the plea entered into before U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott.

Herald was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 16 of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Specifically, he possessed a loaded 9mm after having been convicted for trafficking in cocaine and having weapons while under disability.

Investigators linked Herald to shootings in Walnut Hills in May 2015 and The Great American Tower at Queen City Square in January 2015 through the use of a national database called the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).

Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the ATF and Cincinnati Police and assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, as well as Criminal Chief Kenneth L. Parker, who is representing the United States in this case.