DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Middle District of Florida

For Immediate Release

Monday, February 22, 2016
A. Lee Bentley, III
, United States Attorney
Contact: William Daniels

St. Petersburg Man Sentenced to Fifteen Years for Firearm and Drug Offenses

Tampa, Florida – United States District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich has sentenced Tom Kelly (St. Petersburg, 32) to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty in October 2015.

According to court documents, Kelly operated a drug house in St. Petersburg. During the execution of a search warrant at his home in October 2014, law enforcement officers found Kelly in possession of two loaded firearms, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, and prescription pills. Kelly has multiple prior felony convictions for drug and firearm offenses, and is therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law. The officers also seized more than $100,000 of jewelry and cash from the residence and other locations as proceeds of the drug distribution scheme.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel K. Jones.

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, are coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline Strategy on reducing violent crime in communities.

 

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Tampa Field Division