United States of America v. Gary Crawford

Memphis, Tennessee, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Gary Crawford has a long, mostly violent criminal record. It began at the age of sixteen,
with convictions for criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment: he fired a handgun into a crowd and killed someone. In his early twenties came several more convictions, including one for simple possession of marijuana and two for possessing it with intent to distribute. His twenty-second year brought a domestic assault conviction for punching his girlfriend under her left eye.

When Crawford was twenty-four, that same girlfriend contacted law enforcement, alleging
that he had punched her in the face, repeatedly choked her, and threatened to kill her. A handgun found at the scene led to his conviction for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and a sentence of seventy months’ imprisonment followed by three years’ supervised release.

While incarcerated, Crawford repeatedly violated prison rules. Among other infractions,
he twice possessed a dangerous weapon.

In January 2021, he began his supervised release. But Crawford’s time in the free world
did not last long. On October 27, 2021, the Memphis Police Department received a report of a man walking down a street waiving a machete and firing a handgun into the air. It was Crawford. He became irate when officers arrived on the scene and attempted to speak with him. He screamed while brandishing his handgun back and forth. The officers drew their weapons.

Crawford eventually lowered his handgun, sat down, and placed the gun on his lap. The officers repeatedly ordered him to give up possession of the handgun, but he did not comply. In time, though, Crawford stood up, at which point the gun slid off his lap and onto the ground. He then walked toward the officers and began taking off his clothesThe officers promptly tackled Crawford and took him into custody.

The Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 100 months in prison.

Affirmed on appeal.