Matthew M. Graves U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Alonte Wilkinson, a 31-year-old resident of Washington D.C., received a 57-month federal prison sentence for illegal possession of a firearm. The sentencing occurred in U.S. District Court following his arrest by police who suspected him of shoplifting from a CVS store in Southwest Washington D.C.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Wilkinson entered a guilty plea on October 23, 2024, admitting to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition as a felon. Alongside the prison term, Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered three years of supervised release.
Court documents reveal that on January 17, 2024, around 5 p.m., MPD officers were involved in a retail theft operation at the CVS located on the 1100 block of 4th Street SW. At approximately 5:18 p.m., Wilkinson and another individual entered the store and left without paying for their items four minutes later. Officers intercepted them as they walked northbound on 4th Street SW.
Upon searching both men, officers found a firearm in Wilkinson’s right jacket pocket. Although Wilkinson claimed he had a license to carry a concealed weapon, he did not have it with him at the time. The recovered weapon was identified as a Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol containing one live round in the chamber and an additional twelve rounds in the magazine. Notably, its serial number was obliterated and unreadable. A check confirmed that Wilkinson lacked both registration for this firearm and any license to carry it.
Further investigation into Wilkinson's criminal history revealed he had previously been convicted for firearms offenses in 2019, resulting in over one year of imprisonment.
The case was jointly investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department with prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Emory Cole.
