An Athens man who last year accidentally fired a gun into an apartment and was subsequently found in possession of three ounces of pot was sentenced this week to seven years in federal prison.
Sadarrevin De’Angelo Kendrick, 26, received an enhanced sentence because he lied under oath during a previous sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court. He will have to serve the entire sentence in prison, as there is no parole in the federal judicial system.
Kendrick was arrested by Athens-Clarke County Police the afternoon of March 13, 2015 following a woman’s report someone fired a bullet through the ceiling of her Oak Hill Drive apartment, two feet from where she was sitting. She told police a man, later identified as Kendrick, came to her home a short while later asking if anyone was injured.
According to a police report, when officers arrived at the scene they located a vehicle matching the description the woman gave and proceeded to do a traffic stop. The report stated the driver, identified as Kendrick, told police he was just driving around the complex.
After further questioning, police said Kendrick told the officer he did have a gun and it went off as he was cleaning it inside his apartment. The .45-caliber pistol located in the trunk of Kendrick’s vehicle was said by police to have been stolen in Atlanta. About three ounces of marijuana and some cocaine were also in the trunk, according to police.
At the time, Kendrick was on parole from a drug conviction in Wilkes County.
As they frequently do with matters of felons illegally possessing guns, Athens-Clarke County police referred Kendrick’s case to the U.S. Justice Department, and Kendrick was subsequently indicted for possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
“This case is a good example of why felons are prohibited from possessing firearms, said George F. “Pete” Peterman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “Mr. Kendrick not only possessed a loaded, stolen gun but he fired it, endangering innocent, unrelated people in his vicinity.”
Kendrick entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors and in March was about to be sentenced in U.S. District Court when sentencing was postponed due him lying, according to court records.
During that original sentencing hearing, Kendrick testified under oath he obtained the semiautomatic pistol he was arrested in Athens with by purchasing it from a boy he was mentoring at his church, according to records. He reportedly claimed to have been a Good Samaritan “to keep the boy safe and help him pay his family’s bills.”
At the time of his arrest, during a phone call to his mother, Kendrick was secretly recorded by Athens-Clarke County police as saying he bought the gun from a stranger and that he planned to resell it at a profit.
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