GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Muskegon man has been sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison for firearms possession as a convicted felon.
Gerald Odneal II, who also went as “PJ” was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids Wednesday, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Byerly Birge. Odneal was also sentenced to three years of supervised released after his prison term ends.
The U.S. Attorney’s office says that police were looking for Odneal in February on an unrelated case, and when they found him, he fled from police. During the chase, Odneal threw a loaded .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver and escaped. Police caught up to Odneal is April and arrested him, recovering an SKS rifle, a stolen .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun and a shortened, or sawed-off) .22 caliber rifle.
Odneal had a previous conviction of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
The U.S. Attorney’s office argued for the longer sentence saying that Odneal had a history of violence and a “running gun battle” in Muskegon.
