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An Indianapolis man has been sentenced to six years and five months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced Monday.
According to court documents, Indianapolis police were patrolling near a gas station when they saw Thomas Burkett, 45, exit a car with a pistol protruding from his pants pocket.
Officers ran the license plate and determined Burkett was the owner of the car and had a suspended driver’s license. Burkett’s criminal history included felony convictions for strangulation, kidnapping, possession of marijuana and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, among others.
Officers detained him before he left the gas station and recovered a 9 mm handgun from the driver’s seat of the car.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, an effort among different levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun violence, according to a release from the attorney’s office.
“The serious federal prison sentence imposed here should send a message to citizens returning to the community from custody: if you choose to possess a gun you will go right back to prison,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers said in a statement.
The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, who also ordered that Burkett be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years following his release from federal prison.
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