GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today that Tobias John-Maxwell Deatrick, age 32, of Mason County, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 17 and a half years (210 months) for unlawfully possessing firearms as a convicted felon. The Honorable Robert Holmes Bell, United States District Judge, presided over the sentencing.

In April of 2011, Deatrick, who previously had been convicted of no fewer than five felony offenses under Michigan law, unlawfully possessed a 9mm semiautomatic rifle and a .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol. Deatrick pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in January of this year.

Today, Deatrick was sentenced by Judge Bell in accordance with the “Armed Career Criminal Act,” a federal statute that enhances the penalties applicable to persons who unlawfully possess firearms. Under the Armed Career Act, a person who unlawfully possesses a firearm after having been convicted of three “violent felonies” or “serious drug offenses” is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Among other offenses, Deatrick has been convicted of Delivery of Cocaine (2002 and 2005), Receiving and Concealing Stolen Firearms (2002), and Possession of Cocaine (2009).

This case was brought as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (“PSN”) initiative. PSN links federal, state, and local law enforcement in a coordinated effort to deter gun violence and prosecute serious gun crimes in federal court. The case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with substantial assistance from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office and the Ludington Police Department.

The case was prosecuted on behalf of the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Heath Lynch and Phil Green.

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