WASHINGTON — A federal judge sentenced a D.C. man to two years in prison Thursday for carrying an AR-style pistol and dozens of rounds of ammunition in a park between Union Station and the U.S. Capitol last year.
Ahmir Lavon Merrell, 22, was arrested in November 2023 after Capitol Police were approached by a witness who saw Merrell walking through Lower Senate Park while holding something by his side. The witness told police the man seemed fidgety and uneasy.
A USCP officer approached Merrell and noticed what was later determined to be a Diamondback Arms DB-15 AR-style pistol. The officer pointed his gun at Merrell and told him to step away from the firearm, at which point Merrell responded, “For your to get this gun from me, you are going to have to kill me.”
Another officer who responded to the scene shortly thereafter was able to circle around behind Merrell and stun him with a Taser. As Merrell was being brought into custody, he asked officers, “Why didn’t you shoot me? You should have killed me.”
Officers determined the pistol had a 30-round high-capacity ammunition feeding device containing 26 rounds. They located another feeding device at the scene, and recovered a total of 78 rounds of ammunition.
During an interview with police, Merrell said he’d acquired the gun and ammunition in Georgia and traveled by bus to D.C. He said he’d spent the night sleeping in the Congress Heights Metro station with the gun under his sweatshirt.
Merrell pleaded guilty in April without the benefit of a deal with the government to one count of illegal receipt of a firearm by a person under indictment. In a sentencing memo filed Wednesday, his federal public defender sought a sentence of a year and a day, saying Merrell was in the throes of a mental health crisis at the Capitol and was only attempting to hurt himself.
Federal prosecutors sought 30 months, or 2.5 years, in prison for Merrell. They said he’d potentially placed not only himself and police but other members of the public in grave danger by openly carrying a loaded gun. They also highlighted a previous conviction in Georgia for second-degree cruelty to children that legally barred him from owning a firearm.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced Merrell to a mid-range term of two years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. After completing his prison sentence, Merrell will likely face additional consequences in Georgia for violating the terms of his probation in his prior criminal case in that state.