Tampa, FL - U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announces that a federal jury yesterday found Michael M. Rucker (34, St. Petersburg), a/k/a Bryan Houston, a/k/a Idris Williams guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school. Because of his criminal history, Rucker faces a maximum penalty of 70 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 6, 2013.
Rucker was indicted on June 28, 2012. According to evidence presented at trial, on May 15, 2012, the St. Petersburg Police Department Vice and Narcotics Unit executed a search warrant at Rucker's residence located at 1806 9th Avenue South in St. Petersburg. During the execution of the search warrant, officers located two fully loaded handguns in Rucker's bedroom, crack cocaine under a couch, marijuana, and tools of the drug trade commonly used to make and sell crack cocaine. The residence is located within 1,000 feet of both a middle school and daycare center. As a previously convicted felon, Rucker is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Josephine W. Thomas.
It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods" program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy led by ATF. United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill, along with Julie Torres, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
