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Press Release

Judge Sentences Jamaican to Time Served for Gun Offense, Orders Transfer of Defendant to Homeland Security for Deportation

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH, PA - A citizen of Jamaica has been sentenced in federal court to time served, totaling 14 months’ imprisonment, and three years of supervised release on his conviction of violating a federal firearm law, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Kevin Ruddock, 35, formerly of Verona, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, in May 2018 Ruddock possessed a Ruger Model 9E, 9 millimeter handgun, along with 123 rounds of ammunition with an extended magazine, and that the possession was illegal both because Ruddock was admitted into the United States on a non-immigrant visa and because he was in the United States at the time of his possession illegally and unlawfully. Ruddock, who is from Jamaica, was under investigation based on suspicion that he entered into a fraudulent marriage, and during that investigation law enforcement obtained photographs of Ruddock with a firearm. Law enforcement then executed a search warrant at his home, which led to the recovery of the firearm, along with the ammunition and the extended magazine. As part of his purchase of the firearm, Ruddock falsely represented on federal forms that he was a citizen of the United States.

After imposing sentence, Judge Schwab ordered that the defendant be transferred to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security for his deportation.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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.

United States Attorney Brady commended the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Postal Inspection Service, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Ruddock.

 

Updated July 11, 2019

Topic
Firearms Offenses