Press Release
Contact:
MICHAEL L. SCHIPPER
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2404
FELON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM SENTENCED
TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2008 - GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Derrick Allen Ford, 41, of Kalamazoo, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Charles R. Gross announced today.
Ford pled guilty on February 28, 2008, to illegally possessing a .22 caliber semiautomatic pistol. On October 18, 2006, during the course of an ongoing investigation, the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team (KVET) conducted a consensual search of Ford’s residence, where the officers found the loaded .22 caliber pistol under the mattress of his bed. Ford was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Ford had previously been convicted for selling cocaine, and on the date of his arrest was on probation for a cocaine possession conviction. On June 6, 2007, Ford was indicted by a federal grand jury for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell ordered Ford to serve 36 months in prison; upon release from prison, Ford will be on 3 years of supervised release, during which time he will be required to complete 300 hours of community service.
U.S. Attorney Gross commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team for their work on the case. U.S. Attorney Gross noted that “the citizens of this District should understand that we remain fully committed to vigorously enforcing the federal laws against the illegal possession of firearms by convicted felons.”
This case was prosecuted on behalf of the United States of America by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. Schipper.
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