Antoine Gatling, 33, was sentenced on July 30 in U.S. District Court to 36 months in prison for unlawful possession of a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Gatling was found guilty after a stipulated trial before Judge Richard J. Leon on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. In addition to the prison term, Judge Leon ordered Gatling to serve three years of supervised release. Federal prosecutors had requested a 37-month sentence.
Court documents show that on March 1, 2024, at about 9:04 a.m., a caller reported an attempted break-in at an apartment in the 4500 block of 3rd Street SE and described the suspect as armed with a handgun. Metropolitan Police Department officers responded and located Gatling at the scene matching the description provided by the caller.
Officers conducted a pat-down during which Gatling began to resist as they reached for his satchel. After being handcuffed with assistance from additional officers, police found inside his satchel a .380 Llama semi-automatic pistol along with ammunition and a loaded magazine discovered during further search.
Gatling had previously been convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon in Prince George’s County, Maryland, receiving a sentence of 20 years imprisonment with part suspended and five years probation. The investigation was conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Office.
The case was prosecuted under the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful initiative by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nickolas Reck. The initiative supports President Trump’s Executive Order targeting gun violence through prioritizing federal firearms violations and seeking tougher penalties.