Daquez Howard, Gun Possession, Greenville SC, 2016

A masked man pointed a handgun at a woman in a Greenville parking lot before fleeing in a dark Jeep — but not before police caught up with 20-year-old Daquez Howard, the rear passenger who dropped a loaded .25 caliber pistol as officers approached. The incident, which unfolded at 12:52 a.m. on January 23, 2016, outside the Food Lion on Easy Street, ended with Howard’s arrest and a federal conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced Daquez Howard of Greenville, N.C., to 72 months in prison and imposed 3 years of supervised release following the term. Howard pleaded guilty to the charge on July 18, 2016. The sentence reflects the severity of placing a loaded weapon in the hands of someone with a violent criminal past — a past that legally bars him from owning or possessing any firearm or ammunition.

As the victim sat in her car, a dark-colored Jeep pulled beside her. Inside were four Black males. Two in the back wore masks. One pointed a handgun directly at her. Fearing a robbery, she sped off and immediately called 911. Within minutes, a Greenville Police officer spotted the same Jeep leaving the lot and initiated a traffic stop. Howard was seated in the rear passenger side — the same side from which the gun would later fall.

While walking Howard to the patrol vehicle, the officer heard a metallic clink against the pavement. There, at Howard’s feet, lay a loaded FIE Titan .25 caliber pistol. As the officer spoke with the 911 caller over the phone, Howard blurted out: “I wasn’t wearing a mask, but I had a hoodie and bandana over my face because it was cold.” That admission underscored both the brazenness and the flimsy excuse behind his concealed appearance during an armed intimidation.

Howard’s criminal record includes prior convictions for common law robbery, possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine, and possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana — all of which legally prohibit him from possessing firearms under federal law. Despite this, he was found with a loaded weapon in a public parking lot late at night, placing an innocent civilian in immediate danger.

The case was jointly investigated by the Greenville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The federal prosecution was led by Special Assistant United States Attorney Glenn Perry, a prosecutor assigned from the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office under funding from the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys to handle Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force cases. The conviction sends a clear message: felons with guns will be hunted down and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.