Montgomery Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Federal Gun and Drug Charges

            Montgomery, Alabama – On Thursday, April 30, 2020, Rodricas Antwan Nelson, a 40-year-old man from Montgomery, Alabama, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for federal gun and drug charges, announced United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr. Following his prison sentence, Nelson will be on supervised release for three years. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,000.00. There is no parole in the federal system.

            According to court records, on April 10, 2018, officers with the Montgomery Police Department responded to a disturbance call at a convenience store on South Court Street after Nelson began arguing with the clerk about whether he had stolen beer when he came into the store earlier that evening. When officers arrived at the scene, Nelson fled from the store but was captured after a brief foot chase. Video surveillance from the store cameras showed that Nelson removed a handgun from his clothing and put it in a nearby ice cooler just before the police arrived. When they looked in the cooler, officers found a .380 caliber pistol. Nelson is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm. Following his arrest, officers conducted an inventory search of the vehicle Nelson had driven to the store and found methamphetamine.

            After the investigation was complete, a federal grand jury indicted Nelson for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty to both charges on January 23, 2020.

            The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Montgomery Police Department investigated this case, with assistance from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Govan prosecuted the case.