Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Nahshon Nance, 21, of Syracuse, New York was sentenced today to serve 46 months in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, in connection with his plea of guilty to possessing a .45 caliber revolver as a convicted felon, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner.

On May 21, 2018 at 11:33 pm, Syracuse Police responded to an Onondaga County 911 dispatch for a physical domestic dispute involving a firearm at an apartment complex located at 111 Smith Lane, Syracuse.  Upon arrival, Police Officer Thomas Miller interviewed the female victim who advised her boyfriend, Nahshon Nance, had threatened her with a pistol, punched her in the face, and stolen her cell phone, before departing her apartment. Syracuse Police began searching the area for Nance. A short time later, the victim saw Nahshon Nance in a nearby part of the apartment complex and pointed him out to police. Officer Miller began a foot pursuit of Nahshon Nance inside this building. As Officer Miller looked around the corner in a hallway, he saw Nance pointing a large framed, silver colored Smith and Wesson .45 caliber revolver at him. Officer Miller yelled for the defendant to drop the firearm. Nance turned and fled down the hallway with Officer Miller in pursuit, at which time the defendant ran into a partially open door, causing him to fall to the ground and drop the loaded pistol. Nance regained his feet and fled down the hallway, leaving the pistol on the floor where Officer Miller secured it. Moments later, other Syracuse Police Officers arrested Nance as he attempted to flee. 

At the time of his arrest, Nahshon Nance was under parole supervision for a previous New York State drug felony conviction.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Syracuse Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods in cooperation with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is 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.