Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS ON FEDERAL FIREARMS CHARGE
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Reginald Barton, age 30, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was sentenced today to 15 years’ imprisonment by Chief United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Barton pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in July 2016, as a result of a traffic stop in Harrisburg where Barton fled on foot from the police, fired one shot and then tossed the gun, a .22 caliber EIG revolver. Officers from the Harrisburg Bureau of Police caught Barton after a brief foot chase, recovered the firearm and determined that Barton possessed it after having previously been convicted of several felony offenses. As a result of his prior convictions, Barton was determined to be an armed career criminal subject to a minimum mandatory 15-year term of imprisonment.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Harrisburg Bureau of Police. Assistant United States Attorney Meredith A. Taylor prosecuted the case. This case was brought as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership (“VCRP”), a district wide initiative to combat the spread of violent crime in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, the VCRP consists of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose mission is to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes with firearms.