A 50-year-old man from Pensacola, Florida, has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term after pleading guilty to serious federal firearms charges.
Awald Edward Pokrant Jr., 50, of Pensacola, was handed down an 86-month prison sentence after admitting to unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and possessing an unregistered firearm.
The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
On October 2016, law enforcement officers responded to an armed disturbance and observed Pokrant fleeing the scene. A high-speed chase ensued, and the officers pulled Pokrant over, transporting him back to the location of the incident.
At the scene, an injured and bleeding victim told officers that Pokrant had struck her with a hammer. Law enforcement officers observed blood splatter in several locations in the house and recovered a hammer. A search of the house revealed firearms and ammunition.
The victim later told officers that Pokrant might have moved additional firearms to a friend’s house. Law enforcement officers recovered eight firearms and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from this other location.
This case resulted from investigations by the ATF Gun Crime Response Team, which includes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Pensacola Police Department.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.
For more information, contact Amy Alexander, Public Information Officer, at amy.alexander@usdoj.gov.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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