Travis Marcel Hickman, a 32-year-old from Bradenton, is headed to federal prison for 15 years and one day after being sentenced for firearm and drug trafficking offenses. U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven handed down the sentence in Tampa, Florida, following Hickman’s June 13, 2017 guilty plea to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and possessing a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The trouble began on November 17, 2017, when Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies attempted a routine traffic stop on Hickman’s vehicle. Instead of complying, Hickman hit the gas, leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood. The pursuit ended violently when he slammed into another car, bringing his mangled vehicle to a halt. He bolted from the wreckage with a backpack in hand—loaded with morphine, crack cocaine, and other narcotics.
Inside his disabled car, officers found a loaded .40 caliber pistol. That wasn’t all. A search of Hickman’s motel room turned up a second loaded weapon—a 9mm pistol—along with additional ammunition and a stash of drugs, including opioids, cocaine, and more crack cocaine. The evidence painted a clear picture: a convicted felon actively dealing and armed.
Under federal law, anyone with a prior felony conviction is barred from possessing firearms or ammunition. Hickman’s criminal history made every round in those guns a federal crime. Prosecutors didn’t let up, arguing the combination of violent flight, loaded weapons, and active drug trafficking posed a clear danger to the public.
The case was jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray handled the prosecution, securing a sentence that reflects the severity of carrying guns while trafficking drugs in a community already plagued by violence.
This prosecution was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice initiative reinvigorated in October 2017 under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez leads PSN efforts, coordinating federal, state, and local agencies to target violent offenders and reduce gun crime. Hickman’s 15-year sentence sends a message: armed drug traffickers won’t be tolerated on Florida’s streets.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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