A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 221 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
“Gun violence poses a significant danger to the safety and security of our communities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s significant sentence highlights the Criminal Division’s steadfast commitment to aggressively prosecuting repeated armed offenders and protecting the public. I thank the prosecutors and our federal and state law enforcement partners who worked diligently to achieve this result.”
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee stated, “Convicted felons who possess firearms are an inherent danger to community, and in this case, the defendant was an armed career criminal who continued to possess a firearm despite his prior felony conviction history. There is and ought to be a significant consequence for such recidivist criminal behavior, and this is one more armed career criminal removed from our streets for a long time.”
“These efforts signify what can be accomplished when we work together with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to combat violent crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Jamey VanVliet of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Nashville Field Division. “Through this collaboration, we were able to remove a violent armed career criminal from our Memphis streets.”
Court documents show that on January 19, 2022, officers from the Memphis Police Department stopped Markel Strong, 29, because his vehicle's window tint violated traffic laws. Officers saw a firearm in plain view near the center console of Strong's car and seized it. Strong was not allowed to have a gun due to several previous violent felony convictions.
On August 19, a federal jury found Strong guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The jury also determined that he had three prior violent felony convictions on separate dates, which led to an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
At sentencing, prosecutors presented evidence regarding Strong’s violent conduct while in custody as well as other crimes linked to the seized firearm.
The ATF and Memphis Police Department investigated this case. Trial Attorney Ashleigh Atasoy from the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Regina Brittenum prosecuted it.
This prosecution is part of an ongoing initiative by federal authorities working with local agencies in Memphis aimed at reducing violent crime by using federal statutes against gang members and repeat offenders.
