Jury Convicts Woodbridge Man of Illegal Firearm Possession

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Woodbridge man yesterday of illegally possessing a firearm after previously being convicted of a felony.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on March 22, 2019, Marc Allen Williams, 34, was staying at an apartment in Triangle rented by an acquaintance. Williams, who previously was convicted of a felony, had in his possession a nine-millimeter handgun. Later that afternoon, FBI agents and officers from the Prince William County Police Department executed a search warrant at the apartment in connection with a separate investigation.

When law enforcement knocked and announced their presence, Williams ran into the back bedroom of the apartment and into the bathroom. There, he stashed the firearm in the bathroom’s flush tank. Despite his efforts, law enforcement located the loaded gun.

When the defendant was arrested following the search warrant, he provided a false last name to law enforcement. The last name he provided matched the last name of the original purchaser of the firearm. Further, the FBI recovered DNA from the firearm. A sample of the defendant’s DNA, taken pursuant to a search warrant, was a match for the DNA on the firearm.

Williams faces a maximum of ten years in prison when sentenced on September 17. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division; and Peter Newsham, Chief of Prince William County Police, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady accepted the verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine E. Rumbaugh and Rachael C. Tucker are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be 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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:20-cr-242.