NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk man was sentenced Friday to 5 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, on May 7, 2021, Louis Bernard Lee, III, 26, a former affiliate of the criminal street gang the United Blood Nation, was stopped by an Old Dominion University Police Department (ODUPD) officer for speeding.
Lee had an outstanding warrant for an attempted malicious wounding that occurred on April 26, 2021.
During the arrest, ODUPD said they discovered two firearms in Lee’s vehicle. Also recovered from the vehicle was a loaded 30-round extended clip and a loaded 50-round drum magazine. Lee was previously convicted of a felony in the City of Norfolk and was prohibited from possessing firearms.
Lee admitted he used one of the firearms recovered from the vehicle in a shooting on April 26, 2021.
For the April 2021 shooting he was convicted in Norfolk Circuit Court for attempted malicious wounding, use of a firearm in a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Lee was sentenced for those charges on December 22, 2021, and received a 4-year sentence.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Ramin Fatehi, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney; and Christopher Amon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham M. Stolle and Assistant U.S. Attorney John F. Butler prosecuted the case. Stolle also serves as an Assistant Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.
Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.
As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
