Department of Justice

HAMMOND- Morris Burdette, 30 years old, of East Chicago, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James T. Moody on his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Burdette was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, on September 10, 2020, Officers responded to a shots fired call in East Chicago and encountered Burdette at the scene.  While possessing a firearm, Burdette fled from law enforcement, and was arrested as he attempted to throw the firearm over a fence.  According to his criminal history, Burdette had a prior felony conviction for robbery, making his possession of a firearm or ammunition illegal. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives/High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force with the assistance of the East Chicago Police Department.   This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Toth.        

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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