LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A 45-year-old Little Rock man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison with three years of supervised release Wednesday for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Marcus Venson was indicted on November 2, 2022, in a second superseding indictment, on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He then pled guilty on August 24, 2023.
The Little Rock Police Department responded to a call regarding theft on March 18, 2018, and found Venson inside a residence carrying a television toward the front door. Officers ordered Venson to put the television down and show his hands, to which he responded, "I'm just trying to steal stuff."
That's when authorities noticed a silver firearm in Venson's pocket despite him saying he didn't have one.
According to the Office of the United States Attorney Eastern District of Arkansas, Little Rock police officers took Venson into custody after ordering him out of the residence.
Officers searched Venson and found a firearm, ammunition and phencyclidine.
Venson is classified as an armed career criminal offender due to his "violent criminal history," which includes convictions for aggravated assault, terroristic threatening, residential burglary and battery in the second degree.
There is no parole in the federal system.
