Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah J. Boardman sentenced Sean Christopher Henderson, age 36, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, yesterday to seven years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after Henderson pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The guilty plea and sentence were announced by Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland; Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Baltimore Field Division; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department (“PGPD”); and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy.

“We are successfully reducing and preventing crime by removing guns and repeat offenders from the streets by any legal means necessary,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron. “But our comprehensive violence prevention strategy also includes reaching out to at-risk youth and sponsoring reentry fairs to provide resources to returning citizens to help them succeed. We remain laser-focused on reducing crime in Maryland.”

According to his guilty plea, Henderson had a previous felony conviction, which he knew prohibited him from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Despite this, Henderson admitted that on November 9, 2020 and October 3, 2021, he possessed two separate loaded firearms.

Specifically, in the early morning hours of November 9, 2020, PGPD officers responded to an address in District Heights, Maryland, for a reported shooting and located an individual matching the description of the shooter, later identified as Sean Henderson. Due to the nature of the call, Henderson was patted down for weapons. Officers recovered a clear glass vial containing 0.5 ounces of phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP, with an approximate street value of $800 and a plastic baggie containing approximately 12.7 grams of marijuana, with a street value of about $254. In the area where Henderson was detained, officers located a black 9x19mm semi-automatic pistol, loaded with one round in the chamber and eight rounds in the magazine. Additional searching recovered a 9mm spent shell casing. Investigation revealed that the gun had been reported stolen in Virginia on March 29, 2020. Henderson admitted that he possessed the firearm and ammunition in connection with another offense, specifically possession with intent to distribute PCP.

As detailed in the plea agreement, in the early morning hours of October 3, 2021, a PGPD officer responded to an address on Walter Lane in District Heights, Maryland. While approaching the scene, the officer was advised by a PGPD helicopter unit that someone was slumped over in the driver’s seat of a vehicle at that address, with the driver’s door open. When officers arrived, Henderson was found slumped over in the driver’s seat, with one foot hanging out the door. When officers approached the vehicle, they could see the end of a handgun magazine protruding from underneath a towel on the front passenger seat in plain view. Before waking Henderson, officers removed the gun, a 9x19mm semi-automatic pistol, which contained 31 rounds of ammunition in the large capacity magazine and one round in the chamber. After the gun was removed from the vehicle, Henderson woke up on his own and was also removed from the vehicle and placed under arrest. After his arrest, a search of the vehicle located 246 grams of marijuana on the floor of the front passenger area of the vehicle, packaged in 32 baggies that were held together in one lager bag and two ounces of PCP located in the driver side door compartment. Henderson admitted that he possessed the gun in furtherance of drug trafficking.

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 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.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the ATF, the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel Crespo and William Moomau, who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/project-safe-neighborhoods-psn and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.