U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
Middle District of Florida

Middle District of Florida

www.justice.gov/usao/flm/pr

For Immediate Release

May 11, 2011

Convicted Felon Sentenced to 15 Years for Gun Possession

Orlando, Florida – U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp today sentenced Ermando Lewis (32, Daytona Beach) to 15 years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Lewis pled guilty on February 24, 2011.

According to court documents, on July 7, 2010, Daytona Beach Police Department police officers executed an arrest warrant for Lewis at a Daytona Beach address, at which time Lewis attempted to flee the residence. Pursuant to a chase he was arrested. Inside the house, officers found a loaded semi-automatic pistol belonging to Lewis. At the time, Lewis had previously been convicted of multiple felony drug trafficking offenses, and was prohibited from possessing a firearm.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Daytona Beach Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vincent S. Chiu.

It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program – a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy led by ATF.

United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill, along with Virginia O’Brien, Special Agent-in-Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida, in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

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