Lakeland Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Unlawfully Possessing a Firearm

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington yesterday sentenced Jerman Antwon Green (29, Lakeland) to 15 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty on June 19, 2014.

According to court documents, on December 20, 2013, Green entered a pawn shop in Lakeland and asked to see a firearm. Green then fled the store with the firearm in his hand. Detectives from the Lakeland Police Department witnessed Green fleeing from the store and ordered him to stop. Green eventually complied and was apprehended with the firearm. Prior to this incident, Green had been convicted of multiple felony offenses, including drug and gun offenses, and therefore was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Lakeland Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph W. Swanson.

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 also a part of ATF’s Frontline strategy to reduce violent crime in communities.