Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond man was sentenced today to seven years in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

According to court documents, Joseph Bush, 31, was arrested in Gilpin Court on July 28, 2022. On that date, Richmond Police Department officers responded to a report of a domestic assault. Bush’s girlfriend called 911 to report that Bush had hit her in the face and neck and scratched her wrist. He also took her phone and smashed it. The victim further reported that, earlier in July, Bush had pointed a firearm at her face.

While responding to the 911 call, the officers found Bush walking from the victim’s apartment. When an officer attempted to speak to him, Bush ran. After a foot pursuit, the officers detained Bush and recovered a loaded Glock 9mm handgun with an extended magazine from his pants leg. The firearm had been reported stolen three months earlier. In Bush’s pants pocket, officers found suboxone strips and cocaine. Officers found additional rounds of 9mm ammunition, rounds of .22 caliber ammunition and a scale inside Bush’s bag.

Bush has prior convictions for robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and being a violent felon in possession of a firearm. He committed the current offense within six months of his release from state prison and while he was on supervised probation.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Craig Kailimai, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Washington Field Division; and Rick Edwards, Chief of Richmond Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Wright prosecuted the case.

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 of Justice 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.

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