TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Pamela Marsh announced today that 40-year old Michael Townsend Anthony of Tallahassee has been sentenced to 188 months in federal prison today for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The minimum sentenced he faced was 15 years in prison due to the fact that he had previously been convicted of three or more violent crimes committed on separate occasions.
Tallahassee Police officers stopped Anthony on August 13, 2013 due to a window tint violation. A police canine alerted police of possible drugs, at which time police searched the car. They say they found crack cocaine, oxycodone, drug packaging, a loaded 9 mm pistol and two loaded 12-gauge shotguns.
According to U.S. Attorney Pamela Marsh, Anthony pled guilty after his motion to suppress was denied.
At sentencing, prosecutors told the judge that Anthony had eighteen prior felony convictions and that he had only been out of custody for limited periods since 1991. Anthony was last released from the Florida Department of Corrections in June 2012, thirteen months before the new arrest.
