Antonio Clifton Earns 292 Month Sentence For Possession Of Drugs And Guns

Memphis, TN – Antonio Clifton, 38, of Memphis, TN, was sentenced yesterday to 292 months in federal prison for firearms possession, possession of cocaine, and possession of crack cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla ordered Clifton to serve 120 months for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), being a felon in possession of firearms; 120 months for violating 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), possession of cocaine with intent to distribute; and 292 months for violating 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. The sentences will be served concurrently.

According to information presented in court and cited by the judge, on March 3, 2008, members of the Memphis Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit executed a search warrant at 2307 Hubbard in Memphis. When officers knocked and announced their presence, Antonio Clifton ran out of the rear of the residence with a sack of money, jumped over a fence and attempted to escape through a residential neighborhood. Clifton was ultimately apprehended and brought back to the residence, where officers located boxes of plastic baggies, a vacuum sealer, breathing masks with cocaine residue, and digital scales with cocaine residue. The officers also found over 180 grams of powder cocaine and 390 grams of crack cocaine, the majority of which was buried in the back yard, more than $18,400 in cash, and three loaded semi-automatic handguns.

At the time of these events, Clifton was on federal supervised release from a prior federal gun charge. Clifton previously entered a plea of guilty to his supervised release violation petition and received a twenty-four month sentence. The twenty-four year and four months sentence he received yesterday will be served consecutive to the sentence for the supervised release violation, for a total period of incarceration of twenty-six years and four months.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court also ordered Clifton to serve five years of supervised release and to pay a $300.00 special assessment.

This investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force and by the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which is made up of officers from the Memphis Police Department (MPD), the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lawrence Webber represented the government.