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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- July 28, 2020
Court
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Homicides
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Probation
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A defendant’s defense attorney asked a judge to be lenient on sentencing his client.
Curtis Fann pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm on June 23. He was initially charged with carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition in October 2018.
Fann’s defense attorney, Bruce Cooper, asked District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson to consider not requiring Fann to register as a gun offender. Cooper said Fann worked as an IT contractor for three and a half years and has been working for Lyft, Uber and Instacart since the charges were filed.
D.C. Witness reached out to Lyft, Uber and Instacart to understand whether being a registered gun offender in DC is a disqualifying factor for employment. D.C. Witness was unable to get a clear answer from any of the companies regarding their policies after several attempts.
Judge Dayson said she was taking into account all of the circumstances discussed, Fann’s lack of criminal history and the fact that he took responsibility for his mistake.
She said it was clear that this mistake is “not some sort of pattern.”
Judge Dayson sentenced Fann to 90 days of incarceration, suspending the time in confinement and required him to serve six months of unsupervised probation and register as a gun offender for two years after his probation ends.
According to court documents, Fann boarded an Amtrak train in Alexandria, Va. to retrieve a loaded gun that his cousin left on the train when he was arrested in Charlottesville, Va. Amtrak police were alerted that Fann was acting strangely and found the gun between his seat and the wall of the train.
The prosecution asked for a sentence of 180 days in prison, with the whole amount of time suspended, and six months on unsupervised probation along with Fann registering as a gun offender.
Fann made a personal statement, apologizing for his actions. He said he started working for the federal government when he was 15 and has not been able to work for the government because of his charges.
“People make mistakes, and they can change,” he said.