Northern District of Ohio

www.justice.gov/usao/ohn

For Immediate Release

February 14, 2012

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney

Contact: Mike Tobin, Public Information Officer
(216) 622-3651
mike.tobin@usdoj.gov

Felon Sentenced to Over 20 Years in Prison for Firearm and Ammunition Possession

Akeem Stafford, age 25, of Elyria, Ohio, was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Robert Browning, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Columbus Field Division.

The court found that Stafford was an armed career criminal and sentenced him to 262 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release. Stafford was found guilty at a trial by jury on August 24, 2011. Stafford fired several rounds from a .45 caliber pistol into a crowd of people outside of Uncle Vic’s nightclub in downtown Elyria on November 21, 2010 and fled as police chased and subsequently apprehended him.

This defendant’s record as laid out in court demonstrated why this long sentence was appropriate, Dettelbach said. We remain committed to taking armed and violent offenders off the streets.

We are very proud of our close working relationship with our state, federal and local law enforcement counterparts in addressing violent crime, Browning said. This exemplifies our ability to bring armed career criminal to justice. This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Jason M. Katz following an investigation conducted by the ATF and the Elyria Police Department.

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