Palm Beach County Man Sentenced to Over Nine Years in Prison for Possessing a Firearm and Ammunition as a Convicted Felon

MIAMI – On Aug. 20, Charles Grim Rudolph, 32, of Riviera Beach, Fla., a 23-time convicted felon, was sentenced to 114 months in federal prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra after having been convicted at trial for being a felon in unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

After 9:30 p.m., July 26, 2023, a West Palm Beach Police officer spotted a car with illegal tint pull out of a motel parking lot and conducted a traffic stop on the car, driven by Rudolph. Rudolph did not have a valid license, and after the officer saw two baggies of drugs in plain view near the gear shifter, conducted a search of the car. Rudolph’s girlfriend, the passenger, had a purse inside the car by her seat. Inside the purse was a loaded .38 special revolver. A DNA test identified Rudolph’s DNA on the gun.

The guilty verdict in this case resulted in Rudolph’s fifth conviction for being a felon in unlawful possession of a firearm. Rudolph was on probation for the same offense at the time of his arrest in this matter.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Christopher A. Robinson, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, and West Palm Beach Police Chief Frank Adderley announced the sentence.

The case was investigated by the FBI, ATF and West Palm Beach Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Walters and Adam McMichael prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-80002.

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