MONTGOMERY, AL—Sergio Dickerson, a 23-year old Montgomery resident, was sentenced Thursday, May 21, 2015 to 84 months in prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced George L. Beck Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama.

In January 2014, Dickerson was involved in an automobile accident in Montgomery. After the accident, he was arrested by the Montgomery Police Department when witnesses told police they saw him hide a gun case in a drainage ditch before they arrived on the scene. The gun case was found and contained a handgun, an assault rifle, four magazines, including one 60-round capacity magazine, and over 1200 rounds of assorted ammunition.

Dickerson, who had previous robbery and theft felony convictions, was indicted by a federal grand jury in July of 2014 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Shortly thereafter, Dickerson’s mother, Bernadette Dickerson, began contacting witnesses in the case in order to entice them to not testify against her son. She was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day in prison for witness tampering.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Central Alabama Safe Streets Violent Gang task force, with assistance from the Montgomery Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Geer.