“If you’re prohibited from possessing a gun and you get caught with a firearm in this district, you’re going to federal prison,” DeVillers stated. “You’re going to prison for years, not months. You’re not getting probation and you are going out of the state to a Bureau of Prisons facility.”
In August, a Huber Heights man was sentenced in federal court in Dayton to 10 years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
The Dayton office charged three men in November 2019 in the homicide of Dayton police detective and Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer Jorge Del Rio.
Under federal law, it is illegal to possess a firearm for those who are a felon, convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense or under a court authorized restraining order. Possessing a gun can be punished by up to 10 years in federal prison.
It also is unlawful to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense or violent crime. Those convicted face a minimum five years up to life in prison.
“2020 has brought historic levels of gun violence to our cities," DeVillers said. "The year has also brought unique challenges to police and prosecutors who combat this violence. It is vital that we work together and with the community to target the extremely small population of violent offenders who create such a huge and horrific impact on our communities.”
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