FELON SENTENCED TO OVER 17 YEARS FOR ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS

Prosecution Under Prince George’s County EXILE Program

          Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced Lamont A. Toyer, age 35, of Upper Marlboro, today to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of firearms, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Titus enhanced Toyer’s sentence upon finding that he is an armed career criminal based on three prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, and assault.

           “Thanks to the Maryland EXILE program, any felon who is caught with a gun faces federal criminal prosecution,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “By working together, federal and state authorities can remove armed criminals such as Lamont Toyer from Prince George’s County and bring safety to our streets.”

          According to his guilty plea, on June 5, 2007, Toyer got into a heated argument with two women at his residence. During the argument, Toyer threatened one of the women with a black handgun which he displayed in the waistband of his pants. The woman called police to report the threat and when police arrived at the residence Toyer was in the basement. After initially refusing the officers’ requests to come upstairs, Toyer did come up and was detained. Police located a Hi-Point .40-caliber handgun and a Taurus 9-mm handgun hidden in a ceiling tile in the basement. Both guns were loaded, had their safeties in the “off” position, and had a round of ammunition in the chamber. When the officers brought the guns upstairs, the victim recognized the Hi-Point firearm as the one that Toyer used to threaten her.

          Due to his prior convictions, Toyer was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

          United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for their investigative work, and commended Assistant United States Attorneys Robert K. Hur and Steven Dunne, who prosecuted the case.

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