Convicted Felon Sentenced To More Than Seven Years For Possessing A Firearm

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew today sentenced Andron McKinney (29, Tampa) to seven years and eight months in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. The court also ordered McKinney to forfeit the firearm and ammunition used in the offense.

McKinney had pleaded guilty on November 29, 2019.

According to court documents, subsequent to a traffic stop, law enforcement officers searched the car that McKinney had been driving and found a loaded pistol underneath the driver’s seat. McKinney’s fingerprint was found on the magazine inside the pistol. At the time, McKinney had multiple prior convictions for narcotics-related felonies and domestic violence felonies and is therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.  

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tampa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Callan Albritton.

This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program (PSN), which is a nationwide crime reduction strategy aimed at decreasing violent crime in communities. It involves a comprehensive approach to public safety — one that includes investigating and prosecuting crimes, along with prevention and reentry efforts. In the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez coordinates PSN efforts in cooperation with various federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. Federal inmate sentenced to additional prison time for using a contraband cell phone to post videos to Facebook

ATLANTA – Brian J. Wilson, an inmate at the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta (“USP Atlanta”) has been sentenced to an additional three months in prison for using a contraband cell phone to post photographs and videos onto Facebook from his cell at the prison.

“Contraband cell phones are pervasive in prisons and dangerous in the hands of inmates in any prison facility,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “Cell phones can, and often do, become a tool used by inmates to run illicit schemes, intimidate people outside of the facility, or as in this case, simply flaunt that they have one.  The federal government will continue to combat their use through vigorous prosecutions and the imposition of consecutive prison sentences.”

“By continuing to break the law while incarcerated, Wilson has not learned from his past transgressions,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is using every resource possible to stop the proliferation of contraband cell phones in our prisons and hopefully this additional sentence will send a clear message that their use will not be tolerated.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court; USP Atlanta is a medium-security federal prison for male inmates operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010 made it a crime for federal inmates to possess or use cell phones while incarcerated.

On March 24, 2015, Wilson was sentenced to ten years in prison after sustaining a conviction for possession of a stolen firearm. Since approximately May 3, 2018, Wilson has been an inmate at USP Atlanta.

As an inmate, Wilson possessed a cell phone in USP Atlanta. Between late-May and July 2019, Wilson used his cell phone to post images to and to live stream content onto the social media platform Facebook from his prison cell. In fact, Wilson posted a “selfie” photograph onto his Facebook account of himself holding a cell phone while in his prison cell.  Ironically, in a live stream video, Wilson warned people that federal cases have significant prison sentences, lamenting that “federal law ain’t playing” because “the United States will lock you … up” if you are convicted of a federal crime.  

Prior to his guilty plea, Wilson was scheduled to be released from custody in the fall of 2022.  Under federal law, however, inmates convicted of possessing contraband in prison must receive consecutive (or additional) prison time after their original sentence is completed.

On November 21, 2019, Brian J. Wilson, 32, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to possessing a contraband cell phone in prison. Based on the plea, the Court sentenced Wilson to an additional three months in prison.

The FBI and the Bureau of Prisons investigated this case.

Jeffrey W. Davis, Chief of the Public Integrity and Special Matters Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Cain Burch prosecuted the case.