Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Judge Sentences Felon with Multiple Convictions to Prison in Project Safe Neighborhoods Case
PITTSBURGH, PA - A former resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to a term of imprisonment of four years and seven months (55 months) to be followed by three years of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
Senior United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence yesterday on Ambrose J. Sample, II, age 39.
According to information presented during a bench trial, on June 17, 2017, Sample pulled a firearm from his waistband and fired shots into the air after a dispute with neighbors. He then fled the area on foot and was stopped by police a short distance from his home. Sample agreed to submit to a gunshot residue test of his hands and it was found that he had components of primer-gunshot residue on both of his hands. Sample had been drinking heavily that day and he had also ingested prescription Percocet. Officers obtained search warrants for several locations, including the defendant’s residence. In the defendant’s residence, officers recovered one GFL .380 ammunition. The exact firearm that the defendant discharged was not recovered. Sample has been previously convicted of the charges of murder of the third degree, aggravated harassment by a prisoner, simple assault, fleeing and eluding police and tampering with physical evidence, all of which preclude him from possessing ammunition or firearms.
Assistant United States Attorneys Shanicka L. Kennedy and Yvonne Saadi prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
This case was prosecuted under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the City of Pittsburgh Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Sample.
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