ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced today that Saheed Jamal Grant, 21, of Asheville, was sentenced to 180 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger presided over the sentencing.

David S. Booth, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Interim Chief Wade Wood of the Asheville Police Department join U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on June 13, 2018, law enforcement were conducting a routine warrantless search of the residence of an individual who was under state probation.  Over the course of the search, law enforcement encountered Grant in an upstairs bedroom of the residence.  Law enforcement found Grant to be in possession of a firearm which was loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition, one of which was in the firearm’s chamber.  Grant has multiple prior felony convictions, including Possession of a Handgun By Minor, Felony Breaking and/or Entering, and Possession of Stolen Firearm, which prohibit him from possessing firearms. At today’s sentencing hearing Grant received an enhanced sentence as an “Armed Career Criminal.”

On December 7, 2018, Grant pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the ATF and the Asheville Police Department for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gill Beck of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.