Career Criminal Convicted of Federal Firearms Charge

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A Washington, D.C. man with three prior felony convictions has been convicted of illegally possessing a firearm.

United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced that Mario Adonte Crawley, age 51, was convicted by a jury of the unlawful possession of a firearm. The evidence at trial established that Crawley's vehicle was stopped in Kearneysville, West Virginia, by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office in September of 2023. During the traffic stop, officers located a loaded 9mm handgun hidden in a laundry basket in the back of Crawley's automobile. Crawley is prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior felony convictions for Armed Robbery in the District of Columbia, Attempted Robbery in Petersburg, Virginia, and Receiving Stolen Property in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Salem and Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office investigated.

Crawley faces up to fifteen years in prison when he is sentenced.

U.S. District Court Judge Gina M. Groh presided.

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