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Press Release

Muskegon Man Sentenced To 120 Months In Federal Prison For Drug And Firearm Offenses

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Michigan

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Jim Lee Walker III, 26, of Muskegon, Michigan, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for drug and firearm offenses, U.S. Attorney Andrew Byerly Birge announced today. In addition to the prison term, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker imposed a 3-year term of supervised release that will commence once Walker is released from imprisonment.

          Walker pled guilty on November 1, 2017, to possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Walker came to the attention of the Muskegon Police Department on August 1, 2017, when officers encountered him sitting in a vehicle packaging marijuana for sale. Walker was armed with a stolen, loaded 9mm handgun and was in possession of a sizable stash of illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. Walker fled from police but was quickly apprehended. Walker had previously been convicted of three felonies.

          At sentencing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office underscored the need to protect the Muskegon community from Walker’s ongoing criminal activity. In its sentencing memorandum, the U.S. Attorney’s Office contended that "the seriousness and dangerousness of defendant’s conduct is amplified by his history of violence and drug trafficking." Walker has convictions in 2011 for delivery/manufacture of marijuana and assaulting a police officer. Then in 2013, while he was on probation for these offenses, he approached an occupied home carrying a handgun, confronted a resident, and fired four shots into the front of the home, which resulted in his being convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon. In 2016, while he was on parole, Walker was again involved in a shooting incident. Shortly after his release from prison in June 2017, he started using cocaine. A month later, on July 20, 2017, he pointed a 9mm handgun at the head of a man seated in an automobile, and shortly thereafter he committed the crimes that brought him before the federal court for sentencing.

          Birge stated that, "Walker’s sentence sends a clear message that drug trafficking and firearm offenses will be not be tolerated. My office and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners will aggressively prosecute these cases to help make Muskegon a safer place."

          The charges in this case are the result of a joint investigation by the Muskegon City Police Department, the Michigan State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Lewis prosecuted the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office, the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office, and federal, state, and local law enforcement are working closely together to combat violent crime and drug trafficking in the Muskegon area.

END

Updated March 28, 2018

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses