District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez on Thursday sentenced Michael Lewis to 75 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced.
Gomez also ordered the 36-year-old Lewis to pay a $100 special assessment and perform 400 hours of community service.
Lewis pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to the plea agreement filed June 23 with the court, officers from the Virgin Islands Police Department attempted to conduct a field interview with Lewis who took off running. As Lewis was running from VIPD officers, a butt of a firearm was seen protruding from his front right pocket.
He was later apprehended in a residence where he had discarded three firearms. VIPD officers recovered those firearms.
Lewis is a convicted felon and cannot legally possess a firearm in the Virgin Islands. He has three prior felony convictions, two for unauthorized possession of a firearm and one for third degree assault, all in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.
“A great example of local and federal agencies working together to remove armed felons from the streets of our communities," said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Carlos A. Canino.
The case was investigated jointly by the ATF and the VIPD. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sigrid M. Tejo-Sprotte.
