GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man who spent time locked up for sex and drug crimes is heading to federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Levar L. Elliott was sentenced this week to nine years in federal prison for walking into Galewood Foods on Burton Street SW with a Glock 9mm pistol. The incident happened on Sept. 16, 2018.
The gun was found during a search of his home nine days later. Because of prior felony convictions, Elliott is prohibited from having a firearm.
Elliott, 42, told police he bought the handgun off the street for $150, according to court records.
“He admitted that he possessed it for his protection and that it was the same handgun used in an earlier incident,’’ court records show. “His life had been threatened while incarcerated and he feared not only for his life but also for the lives of his children.’’
A federal indictment in January charged Elliott with six offenses, including delivery of fentanyl, oxycodone, heroin and cocaine.
Elliott admitted to selling small amounts of various drugs to an undercover informant in the months of August and September of 2018, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty in March to a federal weapons charge. In exchange for his plea, five drug charges were dismissed.
The drug charges each were punishable by up to 20 years in prison, but the penalty was enhanced to 30 years because Elliott has a prior drug conviction.
Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person is a 10-year offense.
Federal prosecutors opposed a lenient sentence, saying it would “fail to communicate the seriousness of committing a gun crime after previously being convicted of multiple drug offenses and sexual assaults.’’
Elliott has prior drug convictions, including delivery of cocaine in 2001. Elliott went to prison after violating conditions of probation. He also has a 2003 conviction in Kent County for third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
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