MINNEAPOLIS – A Maplewood man was sentenced to 77 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for illegally possessing a firearm as a felon, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, on October 12, 2021, Metro Transit Police Officers were dispatched to a report of a vehicle stuck on the light rail tracks in St. Paul. At the scene they found Deandre Lenier Neal-Hill, 35, unconscious in the driver’s seat of a maroon Chevrolet Malibu. The vehicle, with the engine still running, had a flat tire and was stuck in the tracks. Officers removed an unresponsive Neal-Hill from the vehicle and began preforming emergency medical aid until the paramedics arrived and took him to a hospital.
According to court documents, as officers extracted Neal-Hill from the vehicle, they observed a black handgun on the floorboard on the driver’s side of the vehicle, which was later determined to be an FNH USA model 503 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Neal-Hill’s pistol was loaded with one round in the chamber and seven bullets in the inserted magazine. Neal-Hill was also in possession of marijuana, methamphetamine, and oxycodone pills.
Neal-Hill has prior felony convictions, including convictions of drive-by shooting, assault, and drug sale, therefore he is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.
Neal-Hill was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Wilhelmina Wright. Neal-Hill pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of a firearm as a felon.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the ATF, the FBI, the St. Paul Police Department, and the Metro Transit Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert and Thomas Calhoun-Lopez prosecuted the case.