A 33-year-old Ocala man has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
On Thursday, Michael Tyrone Young was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge John Antoon II to 33 months in federal prison. Additionally, Young was required to forfeit the firearm and ammunition that law enforcement had seized from him.
Young had been found guilty following a trial on August 29, 2022.
According to the evidence that was presented at the trial, on the night of August 31, 2021, officers from the Ocala Police Department encountered Young in the hallway of a building at a local public housing complex. The officers were patrolling the area due to recent shootings at the complex.
The officers confronted Young after seeing him drop and retrieve what appeared to be a weapon. As the officers spoke with him, the loaded firearm fell out of Young’s pants and onto the floor.
Young admitted that he had the firearm because he had been “looking for a certain person” who was “fixin’ to get him.” A computer records check of Young revealed that he had three state felony convictions for drug distribution.
As a convicted felon, Young is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law.
The case was investigated by the Ocala Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.