Richmond man sentenced to five years in prison for possessing gun as felon

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A Richmond man was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

On Thursday, March 5, 23-year-old Waheed Richardson was sentenced to five years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents cited by the Department of Justice (DOJ), on July 10, 2024, an officer with the Richmond Police Department responded to a call reporting a man who matched the description of a suspect in a robbery that had occurred earlier that day.

When the officer arrived and called out to the man, who was later identified as Richardson, he reportedly fled on foot, and the officer began chasing him.

During the pursuit, the DOJ said Richardson discarded a handgun and loaded a firearm magazine, then laid down on the ground.

The officer then detained Richardson, who the department said still had another loaded magazine and a baggie with counterfeit oxycodone "M-30" pills that reportedly contained fentanyl on his person.

The DOJ said the officer then took the handgun and magazine from Richardson. According to the department, the handgun was equipped with a machine gun conversion device, which made it capable of automatic fire, which makes the gun considered a machine gun.

In 2021, the department said Richardson was convicted of malicious wounding and discharging a firearm from a vehicle. Richardson was reportedly released from prison on Feb. 12, 2024, five months before being arrested for the offense for which he was sentenced on Thursday.

As a previously convicted felon, Richardson cannot legally possess firearms or ammunition.

The DOJ said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division and the Richmond Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. McGorman prosecuted the case.