Matthew M. Graves U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Ezra Griffith, a 34-year-old from Washington D.C., was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a loaded firearm on a District playground. The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Griffith was convicted by a jury on September 19, 2024, for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. In addition to his prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta imposed 36 years of supervised release.
The incident occurred on November 15, 2023, when MPD's Fifth District Crime Suppression Team entered the parking lot of the Rosedale Recreation Center in Northeast Washington, D.C., around 8:40 p.m. Officers found people gathered inside the closed playground adjacent to the recreation center building.
As officers approached, Griffith sat down and adjusted an object near his waistband before running along the fence line of the playground. Officers briefly lost sight of him but detained him moments later within the playground area.
Police recovered a Glock 27 .40 caliber semiautomatic firearm loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition along Griffith's flight path. He has two prior felony convictions in D.C.'s Superior Court for carrying a pistol without a license and attempted robbery.
The Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole prosecuted.
