RICHMOND, Va. - A Petersburg man was sentenced today to more than seven years in prison for possessing two firearms as a convicted felon and cocaine during a high-speed pursuit with the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.
According to court documents, Kevin Godette, 39, was wanted by the Colonial Heights Police Department and the Petersburg Bureau of Police for outstanding probation violations. In December 2017, in an effort to arrest Godette on these warrants, the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force conducted surveillance on an apartment suspected of harboring Godette. Upon seeing Godette leave the apartment and get into a vehicle with a backpack, members of the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force attempted a traffic stop on his vehicle. Godette engaged law enforcement in a high-speed chase through both Colonial Heights and Petersburg, where he bailed out of the vehicle and fled on foot.
U.S. Marshal Task Force members arrested Godette a short time later in a wooded area. While Godette was arrested, authorities revealed more than $160 in U.S. currency and multiple plastic baggies containing distribution amounts of cocaine. A search of Godette’s vehicle revealed the backpack previously possessed by Godette contained two loaded semi-automatic pistols. At the time of Godette’s possession of the two firearms, he was a convicted felon, and thus prohibited from possessing any firearm.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, and Nick Proffitt, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-133.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
