Lamar Ivory Convicted of Felon Firearm Possession

Lamar Ivory, a 25-year-old Jacksonville man known on the streets as “Thug Life,” was convicted by a federal jury on charges of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony. The verdict, handed down in the Middle District of Florida, puts Ivory on the hook for a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in federal prison — with the possibility of life behind bars. Sentencing is set for January 12, 2017.

The conviction stems from a traffic stop on April 30, 2015, when a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office patrol unit intercepted a vehicle reported stolen along the north Phillips Highway corridor. Ivory was riding in the passenger seat. When officers searched the car, they found a loaded Sig Sauer P226 9mm pistol stashed in the glove compartment — directly in front of where Ivory had been sitting.

Ballistics tracing led investigators to a disturbing connection: the gun belonged to a Jacksonville criminal defense attorney and firearms collector. The attorney, later prosecuted himself for firearm possession while using crack cocaine, testified that Ivory — whom he knew as “Thug Life” — had taken the weapon from him. He said he’d just retrieved it from a pawn shop on April 17, 2015, and handed it over to Ivory, his regular drug dealer.

Ivory wasn’t just a dealer — he was a career offender. At the time of the traffic stop, he was already a convicted felon, with prior convictions for armed robbery and drug sales. Under federal law, those convictions stripped him of the right to possess any firearm or ammunition. The gun found in the stolen vehicle was not only a violation — it was a direct threat to public safety.

This case was prosecuted under the Department of Justice’s nationwide “Project Safe Neighborhoods” initiative, aimed at dismantling gun violence in high-crime areas. U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, and ATF Special Agent in Charge Daryl R. McCrary have made firearm prosecutions a top priority in Florida’s Middle District, partnering with local and state agencies to target repeat violent offenders.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mac D. Heavener and Laura Cofer Taylor handled the prosecution, ensuring a violent felon stayed off the streets — at least until his sentence is carried out.