Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

FORT WAYNE – Franklin D. Wright, 30 years old, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Wright was sentenced to 62 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release. 

According to documents in the case, Wright was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Fort Wayne Police for a traffic violation.  When officers approached the vehicle, Wright had his hands inside a bag which contained a Smith & Wesson handgun with an inserted loaded 50 round drum style magazine.  Wright was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a 2014 felony conviction for Carrying a Handgun without a License and a 2011 felony Battery conviction.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with the assistance of the Fort Wayne Police Department and Indiana State Police Crime Lab.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacey R. Speith.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.