A 43-year-old District man, Clarence Faulkner, from Washington, D.C., was handed a 57-month prison sentence today on charges related to firearms and drug trafficking, following a plea of guilty to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and possession with intent to distribute phencyclidine (PCP), according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and other federal officials.
The sentencing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was administered by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan with Faulkner, who admitted his guilt on February 27, also due to serve three years of supervised release after his incarceration, the arrest stemming from a November incident when Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted a bag of what appeared to be marijuana in an unoccupied gray Acura in Northeast D.C., and during a subsequent search of the vehicle they discovered a trove of illegal substances including more than two pounds of marijuana, 108 grams of cocaine base, six ounces of liquid PCP, two scales, and over $38,000 in cash along with a Glock pistol that had been illegally modified.
Law enforcement linked the vehicle to Faulkner through registration records, identification, and mail found inside; they promptly arrested him on a nearby sidewalk, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal law bars Faulkner from gun possession because of his criminal record, which includes prior felony firearms convictions—convictions that contribute to a history that law enforcement views within the context of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a widespread initiative aiming to reduce violent crime, handled in this case by investigators from both the ATF’s Washington Field Division and the MPD, the Justice Department's release detailed the specifics of Faulkner’s arrest and the evidence against him, laying out the case that would ultimately lead to his sentencing.
