Convicted Felon Sentenced To 13 Months In Prison For Possessing A Firearm In District of Missouri

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri:

June 25, 2020

St. Louis, Missouri – Mark Harris, 25, of St. Louis, Missouri was sentenced to 13 months in prison on a charge of felon in possession of a firearm. He appeared in federal court today before U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry.

According to court documents, on May 27, 2019, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Officers received a call for suspicious person/drugs in the 4000 block of Blow Street. Upon responding to that area, Officers observed three occupants of a vehicle smoking cigarillos, and the Officers smelled marijuana. Officers knocked on the vehicle’s driver’s window and when the driver, later identified as Mark Harris, rolled down the window, the Officers observed a bag of marijuana on Harris’ lap. When the Officers asked if there were any more illegal drugs in the vehicle, the backseat passenger stated that she had more marijuana in her bag, which she handed to the Officers. Officers removed Harris from the vehicle and patted him down, at which time the Officer immediately felt a firearm in Harris’ shorts pocket. The firearm was a loaded Hi-Point, 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Harris has prior felony convictions for a 2015 Stealing of a Motor Vehicle and a 2016 Forgery.

This case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

This press release was produced by the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri. The views expressed here are the author’s own.