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WASHINGTON D.C. – Charles General, 29, is heading to federal prison for two years after a routine drug bust turned up a stolen handgun tucked into his coat. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta handed down the 24-month sentence today, plus three years of supervised release.
According to court records, plainclothes D.C. Metro Police were cruising the 1400 block of Cedar Street SE on October 13, 2023, when they spotted General and a group openly smoking weed. When cops approached, they smelled the marijuana and told the group to cut it out.
During a search, an officer felt the butt of a gun in General’s coat pocket. The search turned up a loaded Glock 30S .45 caliber pistol. Turns out, the Glock was stolen during a burglary from a gun shop in Springfield, Virginia.
This wasn’t General’s first run-in with the law. He’d previously been convicted in D.C. Superior Court for carrying a pistol without a license – a felony that automatically disqualified him from owning a firearm.
The bust was a joint operation between the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole prosecuted the case as part of the “Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful” initiative, a program launched by the Trump administration targeting gun violence and tougher penalties for firearms offenses.
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