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Local convicted felon sentenced to 15 years in prison for firearm possession

Posted at 6:02 PM, Nov 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-20 18:02:12-05

NORFOLK, Va. – A Newport News man who is a previously convicted felon was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for possession of a firearm.

Sean Gregory Mitchell

Court documents say 45-year-old Sean Gregory Mitchell unlawfully possessed a firearm in June 2016.

When Newport News Police officers were on bike patrol at Mitchell’s apartment complex and smelled marijuana, they obtained a search warrant for the apartment and found a semi-automatic handgun with a loaded magazine, a small bag of marijuana, a scale and three small bags of cocaine base.

This is Mitchell’s third federal conviction. He was previously convicted of felon in possession of a firearm in 1997 and was convicted of distribution of cocaine base and use of a communication facility in the distribution of cocaine base in federal court in 2003.

Mitchell’s prior state convictions include assault and battery, trespassing, unlawful wounding and possession of marijuana.

“Keeping firearms out of the hands of convicted felons is a top priority,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This is a public safety and law enforcement safety issue that I am 100 percent committed to. We will continue to aggressively pursue these cases and work with our partners at the ATF to remove violent criminals like Mitchell from our communities.”

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