Career Offender Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Possessing Stolen Firearm

DOJ Press

VALDOSTA, Ga. – A Thomasville, Georgia, resident with a violent criminal history who fled from police after being caught illegally with multiple weapons — including a stolen AR-15 semi-automatic rifle — was sentenced to serve 21 years in prison for his crime.

Torrieo Monte Johnson aka Corker, 40, was sentenced to 260 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson yesterday after he previously pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Armed career offenders face accountability for their crimes at the federal level,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “The Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program calls for reducing violent crime in our communities using all of the federal, state and local resources available. Enforcement efforts remain focused on bringing violent repeat offenders to justice as we work together to make our neighborhoods safer.”

“This case is the product of a concerted collaborative effort on the part of ATF and its local partners to target, investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of violent crime,” said ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Beau Kolodka.


According to court documents and other evidence, Johnson—a convicted felon—and another individual ran from Thomasville Police Department officers after they discovered multiple weapons inside the vehicle Johnson was driving on June 26, 2019. The officers found a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a .22 semi-automatic rifle, and a Spikes Tactical .223 semi-automatic rifle, along with multiple firearm magazines and boxes of ammunition. The Spikes Tactical weapon was reported stolen during a burglary at a Thomasville residence on June 17, 2019. Arrest warrants were issued for Johnson and he was captured in Tallahassee, Florida, on July 3, 2019. Johnson has a lengthy criminal history to include felony convictions for arson in the 1st degree, distribution of a controlled substance and burglary.


This case is being 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.

The case was investigated by the Thomasville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonja Profit prosecuted the case for the Government.

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