A 43-year-old College Park man who has averaged about one felony conviction for every 2-1/2 years of his life will spend the next 16 years in prison on weapons charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Keith Wade’s sentence, handed down Monday, was mandated by the state’s mandatory minimum guidelines that require at least 15 years of confinement for defendants with three or more violent felony convictions. According to the U.S. attorney, Wade’s 17 prior convictions included several violent offenses.
“The criminal history of the defendant shows a complete and utter disregard for the lives of others as well as for their personal pursuits,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Christopher Shaefer.
Wade’s latest arrest, in December 2010, came after his parole officer received a tip from an anonymous caller claiming the defendant had threatened him and his girlfriend, who used to date Wade. Prosecutors said Wade had made several threatening phone calls to the couple and sent ominous text messages, including one that showed him holding an assault rifle.
That led the parole officer, along with special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to conduct a search of Wade’s home in College Park. They came away with two fully loaded assault rifle magazines containing 60 rounds of ammunition and a box containing 24 additional rounds — a violation of Wade’s parole.
He was found guilty last September by a federal jury on a possession of ammunition by a convicted felon charge.
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