Rockford Man Sentenced to 180 Months in Prison for Possessing a Firearm as a Convicted Felon
ROCKFORD – A Rockford, Ill. man was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard to 180 months in federal prison without parole for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Deontae T. Holliman, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge on June 15, 2012. Holliman was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his release from prison.
Holliman was originally charged in state court and was transferred to federal court where he was charged under tough federal firearms laws as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an intensive, cooperative effort between local, state, and federal law enforcement to attack gun crimes. The cornerstone of the program is that every defendant committing an offense involving a gun will be reviewed for possible federal prosecution in order to obtain the harshest penalties for the worst offenders. Additional information about Project Safe Neighborhoods may be found at www.psn.gov.
The sentencing was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; W. Larry Ford, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the ATF; Joseph Bruscato, Winnebago County State's Attorney; and Chet Epperson, Chief of the Rockford Police Department.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Paccagnini.
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