RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Richmond man who was released from prison three years ago after serving 23 years for a federal drug trafficking conspiracy is going back behind bars for having a gun he bought on the street.
Following a hearing on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Keith L. Hopkins Jr., 54, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for his earlier guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Hopkins also admitted he was selling drugs again.
Richmond police caught Hopkins with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol on Oct. 27 as they were executing an arrest warrant on another person at a convenience store. Officers observed Hopkins reach into his waistband, pull out a holstered gun and discard it in a vehicle with two people in it, according to the government’s case.
Hopkins subsequently told police that he purchased the gun “off the street” for $325. He “further stated that he sells illegal narcotics and makes approximately $500-$600 per day doing so.”
Two years earlier, Hopkins was released from federal prison after serving 23 years for conspiring to distribute heroin and cocaine.
