Monroe Ezell, 23, of Seattle, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle  to five years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Officers discovered the loaded, stolen Glock .45 pistol in the locked glove box of Ezell’s car.  Ezell had given the officers permission to search the car when he was contacted about an assault suspect wanted by  police.  Ezell is a longtime member of the 74 Hoover street gang, a gang active in south Seattle.  The five year sentence was imposed by Chief U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman.

According to records filed in the case, Ezell has a lengthy and violent criminal history  and is therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.  In 2010, Ezell was convicted for  breaking into his then girlfriend’s apartment, strangling her and threatening her with a gun.  He was convicted of burglary and felony harassment – domestic violence.  Two years earlier, Ezell and his criminal associates robbed a victim on a Metro bus.

In asking for a significant sentence, prosecutors noted Ezell’s gang ties and connection  to violence. “In August 2009, Ezell was shot while standing outside of the King County Youth

Service Center with two other members of the Hoover gang.  The shooting is believed to be in  retaliation to a gang related shooting that Ezell was believed to have been involved in.  He’s also  been present at another shooting,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

Ezell was first arrested for illegal gun possession by Tacoma Police Officers on June 8,  2011, in Tukwila.  The Tacoma officers were searching for Michael Wilson, who  was later convicted of assaulting a police officer when he drove his car, dragging one of the  officers, when they tried to stop him in a Tacoma parking lot.  The case was further investigated  by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and the Seattle Police  Department Gang Unit.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Brown.