Omaha Man Sentenced on Gun Charges
Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced today that Steven D. Crawford, age 39, of Omaha, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher to a sentence of 180 months imprisonment for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Carrying and Using a Firearm During and In Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime. There is no parole in the federal system. Upon his release, Crawford will serve a 4 year term of Supervised Release.
On May 26, 2020, a confidential source advised law enforcement that he/she was able to purchase ecstasy from co-Defendant Joi Y. Bradley. The confidential source contacted Bradley and agreed to meet Bradley at Big Jims located at 3024 Ames Ave. Bradley was the passenger seat of a Chevy Tahoe and Crawford was the driver. The confidential source purchased 10 pills of purported ecstasy from Defendant in exchange for $40. After this controlled purchase, the Omaha Police Department conducted continuous surveillance of the Tahoe before conducting a traffic stop. During a search of the vehicle, officers found a loaded HiPoint 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine containing 16 live rounds next to where Crawford had been sitting.
The 10 purported ecstasy pills were submitted to the Nebraska Public Service Laboratory and were determined to be eutylone and caffeine. Eutylone is a positional isomer of pentylone, a schedule I controlled substance.
A search warrant was obtained for Defendant’s DNA which was then compared against DNA swabs that had been taken from the firearm by the UNMC Human DNA Laboratory. The swab from the firearm generated a mixture of two individuals and Crawford could not be excluded as a contributor.
Firearm examiners from ATF examined the firearm and found that the firearm was not manufactured in the state of Nebraska and would have had to have travelled in interstate commerce to be located in Nebraska. Additionally, the ATF Trace Summary found that the gun had been originally purchased in the state of Texas.
Crawford was a convicted felon having previously been convicted of Assault Family Violence Impeding Breath/Circulation in Texas and Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance- Less than 10 Grams of Crack Cocaine in Nebraska, and Aiding and Abetting Assault in the First Degree in Nebraska.
Bradley was convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute Eutylone and was previously sentenced to a term of 5 years probation.
This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This case was
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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
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