SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Walik Skeete, age 46, of Binghamton, New York, was sentenced on September 20, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, to 20 months’ imprisonment for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the charge stems from an incident in which members of the Pennsylvania State Police stopped Skeete’s vehicle in Susquehanna County for vehicle code violations and subsequently located a loaded Beretta 9mm pistol in Skeete’s vehicle. Skeete has a prior felony conviction and is therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition.
The investigation was conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. O’Hara prosecuted the case.
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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles:
fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
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