Snow Hill man receives 20 years
By John Joyce
Published in News on July 2, 2014 1:46 PM
A Snow Hill man will face more than 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised probation after being sentenced as a career criminal in federal court Tuesday.
Ezekiel Donja Gardner, 33, of Snow Hill, was convicted by a jury in October 2013 of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Federal prosecutors established that Gardner fit the bill to be sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
"You will notice that his sentence, 262 months, is a lot higher than someone normally sentenced for a crime like the one he was convicted of," U.S. Department of Justice Public Information Officer Don Connely said.
Gardner, whose prior convictions include common law robbery, breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and malicious conduct by a prisoner, allowed prosecutors to establish he is a career criminal.
The case was prosecuted out of the Pitt County District Attorney's Office.