Felons Caught with Loaded Gun

Greenbelt, MD – Quinton Darnell McLean, 21, of Washington, D.C. was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a federal crime that could land him in prison for 10 years. McLean was arrested on February 12, 2016, after police pulled him over for driving a car with a fake license plate.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, McLean was driving a green Saturn with a tag issued for a 1987 Mercedes Benz. Officers with the Prince George’s Police Department’s Washington Area Vehicle Enforcement Team (WAVE) followed the vehicle and pulled it over at a carwash on Branch Avenue in Temple Hills, Maryland.

As McLean and another occupant stood outside the carwash bay, one of the officers noticed McLean adjusting his waistband and clutching the right side of his waistband. The officer believed McLean had a firearm in his waistband and frisked him, recovering a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

McLean has a previous felony conviction and is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition. He made several calls from jail, including one in which he said, ‘Maryland time is cheap as s**t.’

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the ATF, Prince George’s County Police Department, and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Rosenstein said, ‘Criminals who are not deterred from carrying guns by the threat of prison time can be deterred by the reality of years spent in a federal prison far from home.’

McLean’s case is part of a coordinated state effort to reduce violent crime. The Prince George’s County Police Department, ATF, FBI, DEA, HSI, U.S. Marshals Service, the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office review cases of defendants arrested for firearms violations, drug offenses, and other violent crimes to determine whether they should be considered for federal prosecution.

McLean’s initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt was held today at 2:40 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge William Connelly. McLean is presumed innocent until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew L. Paeffgen is prosecuting the case. McLean faces a sentence of 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, with no probation or parole in the federal criminal justice system.