AUBURN REPEAT OFFENDER SENTENCED TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF STOLEN FIREARM
Defendant Sold Stolen Firearm in Transaction Monitored by Law Enforcement
STEVEN WILLIAMS, 30, of Auburn, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release for Possession of a Stolen Firearm. WILLIAMS was arrested in September 2009, following a search of his Auburn apartment.
At sentencing U.S. District Judge James L. Robart recommended WILLIAMS undergo drug treatment while in prison and highlighted the seriousness of the crime saying, “almost every gun related case that I see is a stolen firearm.”
According to records filed in the case during June and July 2009, WILLIAMS made a deal to sell a firearm. The deal was being monitored by law enforcement. After the gun sale, agents determined the gun had been stolen from a residence in Federal Way, Washington. When WILLIAMS’s residence was searched in September 2009, officers recovered a Ruger, 357 caliber magnum revolver and a variety of ammunition. WILLIAMS is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of prior felony convictions for drug distribution offenses in King County (2005) and Thurston County (1999) and Attempted Robbery in Thurston County (1998).
WILLIAMS was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Unveiled in May 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a comprehensive and strategic approach to gun law enforcement. PSN is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking both new and existing local programs that target gun crime and then providing them with the resources and tools they need to succeed. Implementation at the local level -- in this case, in King County-- has fostered close partnerships between federal, state and local prosecutors and law enforcement.
The case was investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Colasurdo. Mr. Colasurdo is a Deputy King County Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute gun cases in federal court.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@USDOJ.Gov.
