Portland Gang Associate Sentenced to 94 Months in Prison After Being Convicted of Unlawfully Possessing Ammunition

The case arose from a shooting where the police were unable to recover a firearm

PORTLAND, Ore. – October 2, 2014, Thomas Douglas Smith, 35, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced to 94 months’ imprisonment after his federal conviction for being a felon in possession of ammunition. When the defendant is released from prison he will serve an additional three years of supervised release.

The defendant’s conviction stemmed from a gang involved shooting in which two people were shot, yet failed to cooperate with law enforcement. On May 22, 2011, the defendant was implicated in shooting two individuals inside the Interstate Bar and Grill in north Portland, Oregon. The shooting stemmed from an initial physical altercation between the defendant and two rival gang members. DNA evidence and video surveillance from inside the bar indicated that the defendant, after being punched by two other individuals, pulled out a gun and started shooting. Two individuals were shot but they would not cooperate with either the police or the District Attorney’s Office. No firearm was recovered from the scene. While investigating the shooting, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Detectives and Officers with the Gang Enforcement Team recovered two spent .380 caliber shell casings and two fired .380 caliber bullets.

After extensive follow-up work by the PPB Gang Enforcement Team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, on March 21, 2012, the defendant, a felon, was indicted in federal court for being a felon in possession of ammunition that had traveled in interstate commerce. At the time of the crime, the defendant had prior felony convictions for Escape in the Second Degree, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Burglary in the First Degree, Felony Assault in the Fourth Degree, Delivery of a Controlled Substance, and Delivery of a Controlled Substance within 1,000 feet of a School. The defendant pled guilty to the charge on October 30, 2012. The defendant had been released from state prison less than three months prior to the shooting.

This case was investigated by the Portland Police Bureau’s Gang Enforcement Team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Scott Kerin and Stacie Beckerman, both members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Gang and Sex Trafficking Prosecution Team.