A Meridian man was sentenced to 57 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Kurt Thielhorn of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

According to court documents, Patrick Terrell Lewis, Jr., 31, was found in possession of a firearm in his vehicle by officers of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office on January 7, 2021. Lewis was stopped by officers while in the parking lot of a motel on suspicion connected to an unrelated investigation. The officers smelled marijuana. One officer then checked Lewis’s vehicle and saw a marijuana grinder inside the vehicle on top of the center console. When the officer looked under the driver’s seat the officer found a 9mm pistol. Lewis has two prior felony convictions and was on probation at the time of this incident.

Lewis pled guilty on October 31, 2022 to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office and the ATF investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica S. Terrill and Charles W. Kirkham prosecuted the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, 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.