Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

BALTIMORE – U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III today sentenced Tavion Thomas, 23, of Baltimore to 33 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Commissioner Richard Worley of the Baltimore Police Department; and Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.

“Removing from the community — by any legal means necessary — those most likely to commit gun violence, guides the accountability arm of our work,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron. “As a convicted violent offender, Mr. Thomas knew that he was not allowed to have a gun — if you are caught illegally carrying a gun, you will be held accountable.”

According to his guilty plea, on Sept. 10, 2022, Baltimore Police officers were advised that Tavion Thomas had an open arrest warrant in Baltimore City for a violent crime. Officers went to the 3200 block of Belair Road in Baltimore, an area they knew Thomas was known to frequent, and located Thomas standing with a crowd of people. Thomas was arrested and the backpack he was wearing was searched. From the backpack, officers recovered a 9mm pistol loaded with one 9mm round in the chamber and one magazine containing 14 9mm rounds, a magazine loaded with 10 9mm rounds, eight mason jars containing a total of 1,696 grams of suspected marijuana, four plastic bags containing 28 grams of suspected marijuana, five plastic containers containing 100 grams of suspected marijuana, and one metal grinder with marijuana residue. Officers also searched Thomas and recovered from his waistband a 9mm pistol loaded with one 9mm round in the chamber and a magazine loaded with 10 9mm rounds. Thomas has a previous felony conviction and knew that as a result, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition.

Investigation also revealed that the 9mm pistols Thomas possessed were reported stolen from Bel Air, Maryland, and from Atlanta, Georgia.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.

U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the Baltimore Police Department and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael F. Aubin, who prosecuted the case.

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