CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Two Charlotte men received sentences this week after pleading guilty to illegal possession of firearm charges.

Dominique Malik Daniels, 23, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon last December. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison Thursday for his illegal firearms conviction from an incident in December 2020 and will have two years of supervised release. 

Bennie Mims, special agent in charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings, of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department join the Western District’s U.S. Attorney Dena J. King in making the announcement. 

“Stolen firearms pose a significant threat to the safety of our community, particularly when they end up in the hands of prohibited persons,” King said in a statement. “Working with our law enforcement counterparts at the federal, state and local level, we will continue to join forces to protect our communities and remove illegal firearms from our streets.”  

According to documents filed in this case and court proceedings, on Dec. 31, 2020, CMPD officers were dispatched to a 7-Eleven on North Graham Street. A store clerk alerted law enforcement that two individuals, one of whom was later identified as Daniels, were loitering in the parking lot. 

Officers responding to the service call interviewed the store clerk who reportedly told them that he believed Daniels was armed. The officers approached Daniels and recovered a 9 mm handgun and a Glock magazine from his jacket, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. 

Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that the firearm had been stolen out of Randolph County. Court records show that Daniels was previously convicted of multiple state offenses and he is prohibited from possessing a firearm. 

In an unrelated case, on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. sentenced Dejawn Jermaine King, 26, of Charlotte, to 37 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for illegally possessing a stolen firearm. 

According to court documents filed in this case, on Jan. 6, 2022, CMPD officers were dispatched to Statesville Road and Sunset Road, where they reportedly encountered King passed out at the wheel. 

After waking up, King began to reach into the vehicle’s center console. Officers were able to remove King from the vehicle and observed a firearm on the driver’s seat. During the investigation, law enforcement determined the firearm had been reported stolen out of Stokes County. 

King has a prior state conviction, and he is prohibited from possessing a firearm. King pleaded guilty on June 22, 2022, to possession of a firearm by a felon. 

Daniels and King are in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.