DENVER - A jury in U.S. District Court in Denver yesterday found Maurice Alyn Mickling, age 28, of Denver, guilty of gun and drug distribution charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced. The three-day jury trial was heard before U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore. The jury deliberated for approximately three hours before delivering their verdicts. The defendant, who appeared at the trial in custody, was remanded after the jury verdict was read. Mickling is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Moore on Nov. 19, 2014. Mickling was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on January 7, 2014.
According to court documents as well as facts presented during the trial, in December of 2013 Mickling, who was wanted for parole violations, was located at the Ramada Inn on Colfax and Marion. The Denver SWAT Team was called because of Mickling’s prior violent felony convictions and because he was believed to be armed. As SWAT arrived, Mickling saw the team, and immediately ran. The defendant got to the corner of the parking lot, threw a loaded hand gun high into the air over the fence, dropped a bag, and then jumped the fence. Mickling through the firearm so far that it flew across the street and hit a female bystander in the leg.
Once Mickling was over the fence he slipped on some ice, and was immediately apprehended by officers. Inside the dropped bag was 3.6 grams of crack and a digital scale, which is traditionally used for drug distribution. He also had $756 in cash on his person.
“The streets of Denver are safer thanks to the work of the Denver Police Department and the ATF," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “This drug dealer with a gun has been convicted of serious crimes, for which he faces a long period of incarceration at sentencing as a result."
“We know from experience that the use of crime guns and illegal narcotics go hand-in-hand," said Luke Franey, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Denver Field Division. “Armed narcotics traffickers are a scourge to our society and will not be tolerated. We will continue to fight violent crime by investigating and arresting those who seek to reduce the quality of life in our communities. ATF will continue our great collaboration with the Denver Police Department who is similarly dedicated to this mission."
Mickling faces not more than 10 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He faces not more than 30 years imprisonment and up to a $2,000,000 fine for unlawfully possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance (crack cocaine). Lastly, he faces not less than 5 years, and up to life in federal prison, and a fine of not more than $5,000,000 for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, which will run consecutive with the sentence for the drug trafficking offense.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy Sibert and David Tonini.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
