HAMMOND- Courtney Lewis, 41 years old, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon on his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
Lewis was sentenced to 50 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.
According to documents in the case, on August 28, 2020, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Lewis. An officer observed a firearm between Lewis’ leg and tried to remove it but Lewis resisted, pulled the gun from the officer and sped away. While fleeing, Lewis threw the gun from the vehicle. Lewis’ criminal history revealed he had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses, including robbery, cheating at a gambling game, and possessing a firearm as a felon, and as such, was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives/Indiana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force with the assistance of the Gary Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Caitlin M. Padula.
This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.