Four Time Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty To Gun Possession

CONTACT: Barbara Burns   
PHONE:       (716) 843-5817 
FAX #:          (716) 551-3051  

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Roosevelt E. Collins, III, 40, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassie Kocher, who is handling the case, stated that on July 26, 2021, members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force were surveilling Collins, who was wanted in connection with an alleged shooting incident on July 2, 2021. Officers took Collins into custody while he was sitting in a vehicle parked in a driveway on Magee Avenue. During the arrest, officers observed a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol in plain view on the floor of the front passenger seat. Collins also had a magazine loaded with 12 additional rounds of ammunition on his person.

Collins was previously convicted on felony charges in 2001, 2005, 2010, and 2015, in Monroe County Court, including Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree, Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree, and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the First Degree, and is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Interim Chief David Smith, the U.S. Marshals Service, under the direction of Marshal Charles Salina, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 2, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Siragusa. 

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