Department of Justice

NORFOLK, Va. – A Norfolk man was sentenced today to 151 months in prison for unlawfully possessing ammunition that he used to shoot at someone and for unlawfully possessing a firearm in a separate incident roughly a year later.

According to court documents, on March 27, 2021, within nine months of his release from federal prison for a prior felon-in-possession conviction, Earlon Delton Mitchell, 33, returned to the place he had been arrested in his previous case and assaulted a woman. When another woman showed up and tried to stop him, he brandished a firearm at her, so she drove away, stopped at the end of the block, and called 911. He walked into the street and shot at her several times, but missed, hitting two parked cars and leaving shell casings that were later recovered.

Almost exactly a year later, while still on federal supervised release, he went back to that same location, where police officers spotted him and tried to make contact with him. He fled, and they pursued him. While running, he threw his loaded, stolen firearm to the ground. The officers caught and arrested him, recovering the firearm, as well as 40 grams of methamphetamine and marijuana separated into three baggies, along with $115 cash in different denominations.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Christopher Amon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division; and Mike Goldsmith, Interim Chief of Norfolk Police, made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Jackson prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is 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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:22-cr-65.