Philadelphia Man Sentenced to Over 8 Years in Prison for Shooting a Firearm Into a Residential Neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA – Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Salim Davis, a/k/a “Leem,” 36, of Philadelphia, PA was sentenced eight years and four months in prison and five years of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Gene E.K. Pratter for illegally possessing a firearm and shooting it into a residential neighborhood.
Nearly two years ago in September 2019, the defendant was convicted at trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and aiding and abetting the making of a false statement to a federal firearms licensee. The jury heard evidence that a Philadelphia Police Inspector was off-duty driving his unmarked police car in the area of 2500 Island Avenue when he heard gunshots. Minutes later, he observed Davis, who was wearing a black jacket, and another man, walking in an alleyway near the officer’s car, both carrying firearms. The Inspector followed the suspects and commanded that they stop and put their hands up. Davis failed to comply, walked away, and discarded his black jacket. Police eventually caught up with Davis, placed him in custody, and conducted a pat down. They found over $1,000 cash and a bottle containing 70+ Xanax pills. After picking up the discarded black jacket, officers recovered a Smith & Wesson, .40 caliber, semi-automatic handgun loaded with 10 live rounds. They also recovered four bullet cartridge cases from the scene which were found to be from the defendant’s weapon.
“If you commit a federal firearms offense, our Office, together with our law enforcement partners, will hold you accountable,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “We are nearly six months into our ‘All Hands On Deck’ initiative; six months of working with our law enforcement partners nearly around the clock to put criminals like Davis behind bars where they can no longer contribute to the violence on the streets of our city.”
“ATF, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to do everything in our power to take guns out of the hands of violent felons and disrupt violent gun crime in our community,” said Matthew Varisco, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Division. “Today’s sentence is a small victory in the perpetual battle against gun violence and should send a clear message to those criminals who endanger our citizens.”
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Philadelphia Police Department. It was tried by Assistant United States Attorney Katherine Driscoll, and was handled post-trial by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Miller.
###
