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February 4, 2008

Felon pleads guilty to gun possession in Pawtucket

PROVIDENCE -- A New York man pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted he had a gun in his waistband while sitting in a parked car in downtown Pawtucket.

Felix Rodriguez, 31, of the Bronx was in a car parked on April 19 at Broad and Exchange streets when Pawtucket police approached. Officers were responding to a dispatch about a car in which occupants had shown a gun. The car matched description and officers ordered three people out of the car and patted them down, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Robert Carl Corrente's office today.

An officer found a loaded, snub-nosed .44-caliber handgun. Rodriguez asserted he’d found it earlier that night during a fight at a strip club, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Rodriguez has past convictions in Virginia for cocaine trafficking and possessing a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Felons are barred by federal law from possessing a firearm.

Maximum penalty for being a felon in possession of a firearm is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Rodriguez made the plea before Judge William E. Smith in U.S. District Court, Providence.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 3:47 PM | Permalink

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