Cleveland Man Found Guilty of Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Drug Trafficking
Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan announced that a federal jury has found Lawrence Dunbar, 28, of Cleveland, guilty of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession with the intent to distribute carfentanil, possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession with the intent to distribute heroin.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on July 25, 2019, members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) responded to an apartment building in Cleveland to arrest Dunbar due to a warrant for violation of parole conditions and a second warrant for felonious assault. Upon arrival, law enforcement officers detained Dunbar and searched the apartment. Court documents state that in plain view in the master bedroom, officers identified a suspected bag of heroin and additional baggies on a nightstand. Other officers in the hallway observed a firearm in the living room under a couch.
Officers later obtained a warrant to search the apartment and located various amounts of suspected narcotics, including carfentanil, heroin, and cocaine, a 9mm pistol and ammunition, various drug paraphernalia, mixing tools, safety equipment, packaging and distribution materials, digital scales and several cell phones.
At the time of the arrest, Dunbar was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to multiple previous convictions of felony offenses such as drug trafficking, drug possession, attempted felonious assault and more in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Dunbar is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2022, before Judge Donald C. Nugent.
This case was investigated by the NOVFTF and the ATF. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam J. Joines and Margaret A. Kane.
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