Offense Represents Defendant's Fifth Felony Conviction
WASHINGTON - Michael Wells, 48, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty yesterday to a federal firearms charge stemming from his possession of a loaded firearm on March 23, 2018, in the 600 block of Raleigh Place, Southeast, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Wells pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and one count of possession of phencyclidine (PCP). He will be sentenced on Sept. 11, 2019, by the Honorable Richard J. Leon. Wells faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years of incarceration.
According to the government’s evidence, on March 23, 2018, at approximately 5:00 p.m., MPD was conducting drug enforcement operations in the 600 block of Raleigh Place, Southeast. Officers observed Wells purchase PCP from another individual. Wells, along with others, were stopped by police. In Wells’ left jacket pocket, law enforcement recovered a wet PCP cigarette, and inside of his backpack, they located a RG14 six-cylinder loaded revolver as well as 23.22 caliber bullets.
Wells has previously been convicted of a number of felonies, including the same charge-Unlawful Possession of a Firearm-out of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2000. Wells has also been convicted previously of several narcotics trafficking offenses out of D.C. Superior Court.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Newsham, commended the work of the MPD officers who investigated the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Rosen.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
