Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Armed Career Criminal Sentenced to 262 Months in Prison for Illegal Possession of a Firearm
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the sentencing of NORRIS DESHON ANDREWS, 34, to 262 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm. ANDREWS, who was convicted by a federal jury on October 4, 2019, was sentenced earlier today before Judge Susan Richard Nelson in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.
As proven at trial, on May 15, 2018, police officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 25th and Girard Avenue North in Minneapolis. Witnesses described the shooter’s vehicle as an older model blue Chevrolet Tahoe. Officers recovered 13 discharged bullet casings from the scene. At trial, an eyewitness identified ANDREWS as the shooter.
As proven at trial, a little over an hour later, two individuals were shot and wounded in a parking lot near Plymouth Avenue North. Surveillance footage from a nearby security camera showed the shooter, who was later identified as ANDREWS, driving up to the scene in a blue Tahoe. ANDREWS and another individual got out of the vehicle and had a verbal altercation with several individuals standing on the sidewalk before ANDREWS pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and fired four shots, hitting two victims. ANDREWS then got back in the blue Tahoe and fired two more shots as he fled the scene. Hours later, officers located ANDREWS and took him into custody.
This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Minneapolis Police Department. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative that brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement to combat violent crime. This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey S. Paulsen and Samantha H. Bates prosecuted the case.
Defendant Information: NORRIS DESHON ANDREWS, 34
City of residence unknown
Convicted: Felon in possession of a firearm - armed career criminal, 1 count
Sentenced: 262 months in prison; Five years of supervised release
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