Brandon Blackman, a 38-year-old resident of Maple Heights, was sentenced on July 28 to 137 months in prison after being convicted of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition. U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan handed down the sentence following Blackman’s conviction by a federal jury in January for being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition.
Blackman’s criminal history includes prior convictions for domestic violence in 2023, kidnapping and felonious assault in 2010, drug trafficking in 2019, and drug possession in 2008. In addition to his prison term, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, law enforcement sought Blackman after he was suspected of involvement in several criminal incidents during July 2024. He reportedly fled from police during an attempted traffic stop before later entering a police station lobby where he was arrested. Officers subsequently located the BMW that Blackman had been observed driving; during their search they found a loaded 9mm pistol, $56,000 cash inside a shoebox, two cellphones, and designer apparel items. Additional evidence showed that Blackman had $6,165 on his person at arrest and $3,000 more inside his apartment along with drug paraphernalia including a scale and a Pyrex container with cocaine residue.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with the Fairview Park Police Department investigated the case. The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristen Rolph and Toni Beth Schnellinger Feisthamel for the Northern District of Ohio.
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio is responsible for enforcing federal criminal laws related to national security and public corruption while defending the United States in civil suits; it covers forty northern counties across Ohio as part of its operations within federal law enforcement, according to the official website.