U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Maryland
36 S. Charles Street
Fourth Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2692
(410) 209-4800
TTY/TDD: (410) 962-4462
For Immediate Release
January 11, 2010
Rod J. Rosenstein, United States Attorney
Contacts: Vickie E. LeDuc, Public Information Officer
Marcia Murphy
(410) 209-4885
(410) 962-3091 (fax)
Four-Time Felon Sentenced to Over 15 Years in Prison For Illegal Possession of a Gun
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Bernard Way,
age 35, of Laurel, Maryland, today to 190 months in prison followed by three years of supervised
release for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Williams enhanced Way’s sentence upon finding that he is an armed career criminal, based on four previous convictions for assault, robbery and gun offenses.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J.
Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Theresa R. Stoop of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives — Baltimore Field Division; and Chief Roberto L. Hylton of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his guilty plea, on March 1, 2008, Prince George’s County Police officers were conducting surveillance at a residence in the 900 block of Somerset Place in Prince George's County, when they saw Way enter the driver’s side of a black Lexus, which was registered to him. They saw Way kneel on the driver seat to bend over the center console area. Way went back into the residence and officers learned from the Motor Vehicle Administration that the tags on the Lexus had been suspended for failing to comply with Maryland Vehicle Emissions. A short time later, Way and a passenger got back into the car. As they began to drive away, a traffic stop was conducted for operating a vehicle with suspended tags. As officers approached the vehicle, they saw in plain view on the center console of the Lexus a clear baggie containing marijuana and arrested Way and the passenger.
During a subsequent search of the Lexus, an officer noticed that inside the center console
there was a piece of plastic that was loose. As the officer moved the plastic, a hidden compartment
concealing a firearm was revealed and officers recovered a loaded Davis .380 pistol.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys
David I. Salem and Mara B. Zusman, who prosecuted the case.
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