Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

CINCINNATI – Santonio Watkins, 28, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 72 months in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Michael Boxler, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Columbus Field Division (ATF) and Cincinnati Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell, announced the sentence handed down today by Senior U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith.

While engaged in a traffic stop on January 29, 2014, law enforcement officers discovered Watkins was in possession of a 9mm pistol and 11 rounds of ammunition. As a previously convicted felon, this violated federal firearm statutes.

Watkins pleaded guilty on May 12, 2014 to felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the ATF and Cincinnati Police Department, as well as Cincinnati Branch Chief Anthony Springer, who represented the United States in this case.