WASHINGTON - Kenneth Furr, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), was sentenced today to a total of 14 months in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon and solicitation of prostitution, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Furr, 48, was found guilty of the two offenses by a jury in October 2012 following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The jury acquitted Furr of several other charges, including assault with intent to kill while armed. The Honorable Russell F. Canan sentenced Furr today to five years in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon and 30 days of incarceration for the solicitation offense. He suspended all but 14 months of that time on the condition that Furr successfully complete three years of supervised probation.
According to the government’s evidence, in the early morning hours of Aug. 26, 2011, Furr, who was off duty, was attempting to pick up transgender prostitutes in the area of Fifth and K Streets NW. His initial attempts to pick up one transgender woman were rejected by her. He nonetheless followed her into a drug store at 400 Massachusetts Avenue. Once inside, he continued to solicit her, in front of two of her acquaintances. Furr got into a verbal altercation with one of them, and was asked to leave the drug store by the store’s security officer.
A short time later, Furr confronted the two acquaintances outside the store. Furr, who was parked on H Street NW, reached into his glove compartment, took out a semi-automatic pistol, and pointed it at them; this is the offense that led to the guilty verdict on the charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. One reported the incident to the store security officer. After Furr identified himself as a police officer, the security officer ceased his investigation and let him go.
Approximately 20 minutes later, three of the complainants, from the incident at the drug store, along with two of their friends, encountered Furr in the area of 5th and K Streets NW. Furr once again was attempting to solicit a transgender prostitute. The complainants pulled their car next to Furr’s, and at least one of the occupants in the complainants’ car assaulted Furr. Furr sped off and the complainants’ car followed.
While being followed by the complainants, Furr drove to the area of First and Pierce Street NW, where he parked his car and began shooting toward their vehicle. The driver of the victims’ car ducked and hit the accelerator, crashing into the side of Furr’s vehicle. Furr then jumped on the hood of the occupied vehicle and continued shooting, firing a total of five rounds. Three of the occupants of the car suffered injuries.
Furr was arrested after the incident and remained in custody pending the trial. Following the jury’s verdict, Judge Canan released him into a high-intensity supervision program pending sentencing. The judge credited the time that Furr had already spent in custody toward his sentence; as a result, Furr remains free and is now on probation.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen and Chief Lanier commended the detectives and officers who investigated the case from the MPD. They also praised those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Jennifer Clark, of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit; Litigation Technology Specialists Leif Hickling and Joseph Calvarese; Intelligence Specialist Larry Grasso; Paralegal Specialists Marian Russell and Donville Drummond; Legal Assistant Mary Doster; Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Worm, who investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Worm and Natalia Medina Burnett, who prosecuted the case.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
