Roanoke Woman Sentenced on Federal Firearms Charge

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – Diamond Topaz Brown, a Roanoke woman who was prohibited from possessing firearms due to her status as a previously convicted felon, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Roanoke to 120 months in federal prison, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.

According to court documents, Brown, 29, is a seven-time convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing a firearm. In the late hours of September 19 and the early morning hours of September 20, 2018, members of the Roanoke Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives observed Brown outside of a business on Williamson Road in Roanoke.  They were looking for Brown in an attempt to arrest her on three outstanding felony extortion warrants based upon violent threats she was alleged to have made in the days prior.  Officers observed Brown remove a handgun from a vehicle associated with Brown, place it under her shirt, and move it to another vehicle in the parking lot. Brown hid the firearm under the driver’s seat of the second car. A subsequent search of the second vehicle revealed a Taurus, 9mm, semi-automatic pistol.  The gun was loaded with an extended magazine holding 29 rounds of ammunition.  Surveillance video from the business confirmed that Brown had, in fact, transferred the pistol from one of the vehicles to another.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven 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 investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Roanoke City Police Department, and the United States Marshal’s Service.  Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel P. Bubar and Coleman Adams prosecuted the case for the United States.