Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Tampa, Florida – Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow announces that Travis Marcel Hickman (31, Bradenton) has pleaded guilty to possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon, and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

 

Hickman was indicted on January 25, 2017.

 

According to court documents, on November 17, 2016, deputies from the Manatee County Sherriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop on Hickman’s car. He fled, leading the deputies on a chase that resulted in him colliding violently with another vehicle. Hickman emerged from his car with a backpack containing various narcotics, including crack cocaine. Law enforcement officers recovered a loaded .40 caliber pistol from the disabled vehicle and a subsequent search of Hickman’s motel room revealed a loaded 9mm pistol, ammunition, and various other narcotics, including cocaine and crack cocaine. At the time, Hickman was a convicted felon and therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

 

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy.  Acting United States Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow, along with Daryl R. McCrary, 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.