Lakeland Convicted Felon Found Guilty of Possessing a Firearm

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury today found Ronald Deandrea Solomon (29) guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 15 years, up to life in federal prison. Solomon was indicted on April 17, 2014.

According to testimony presented at trial, law enforcement officers made consensual contact with Solomon and a group of other men hanging out in the parking lot of a Lakeland apartment building. When law enforcement drove into the complex, they observed Solomon walk away from the group, remove a firearm from his waistband and toss it under a nearby vehicle. At the time of the incident, Solomon was a previously convicted felon and therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stacie B. Harris.

This is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Trevor Velinor, Acting Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is another example of ATF’s Frontline Strategy to impact violent crime within our communities.