Steven Akeem Nichols, Possessing a Firearm, Virginia 2017

NORFOLK, Va. – A Chesapeake man was sentenced today to eight years in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

Steven Akeem Nichols, 34, was found by a Chesapeake police officer sitting in the driver’s seat of his car asleep with a 9mm handgun resting between his legs in October 2017.

Nichols, who was prohibited from possessing firearms, had been previously convicted of a felony drug offense in Pennsylvania. Nichols later admitted to conspiring with others to distribute quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine in Virginia Beach in September and October 2017.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Scott W. Hoernke, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division, and James A. Cervera, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys William B. Jackson and Kevin M. Comstock prosecuted the case.

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