COLUMBUS, Ohio - Corey D. Wilder, Jr., 27, of Columbus was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 42 months in prison for possessing a loaded AR-15 assault-style rifle during a standoff with members of a rival gang in south Columbus in 2017.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Jonathan McPherson, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Acting Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan announced the sentence handed down September 16 by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.
According to court documents, Columbus Police identified Wilder, a suspected gang member, alongside documented South Park/Fetti Nation gang members outside apartments where Wilder lived in July 2017 when a dispute erupted with a rival gang who threatened to shoot up Wilder’s girlfriend’s sister’s car. A Columbus Police officer knew Wilder by sight and knew he was a convicted felon who was not allowed to possess a gun. Wilder was carrying an AR-15 style rifle with a loaded magazine containing 31 live rounds of ammunition. A search of Wilder’s apartment recovered at least nine other firearms, several of which were loaded, along with illegal drugs. Wilder pleaded guilty on April 11, 2019 to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Wilder has been in custody since his arrest. Two others involved in the incident received substantial sentences as well. Michael Chester, 28, was sentenced to 51 months in prison. Davonta Flood, 22, was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Each pleaded guilty to illegally possessing firearms because they were convicted felons.
This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. 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.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by the ATF and Columbus Police Department, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan J. C. Grey, who is representing the United States in this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
