Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Tremmell Brown, 31, of Rochester, NY, who was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, was sentenced to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Moynihan, who is handling the case, stated that on July 11, 2015, at about 4:30 a.m., officers from the Rochester Police Department responded to 100 Green Knolls Drive in Rochester, for a report of a man in the parking lot of an apartment complex with a shotgun. As officers arrived, they could hear music coming from a car in the parking lot. As they approached, Brown got out of the car holding a shotgun, walked around the car, and got back in. This pattern of behavior, which also included Brown pumping the shotgun, went on for several minutes before the defendant finally sat in his car with the shotgun and drove away.

 

Shortly after, Brown, who had left the apartment complex, re-entered the parking area and parked at 143 Green Knolls Drive in a handicapped parking spot. Officers approached Brown as he got out of his car and took him into custody. In the car, officers could see the shotgun in the back seat. A further search of the car uncovered a small amount of loose marijuana, a shotgun case and ammunition.

 

Brown told officers that he had the shotgun because he was going hunting but denied sitting in the parking lot and racking the shotgun. In addition, the defendant said that he knew, given that he was a convicted felon, it was illegal to possess a handgun but thought he could possess a shotgun.

 

The sentencing is the result of an investigation on the part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson, New York Field Division, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli.