A Winston-Salem man was sentenced Friday by United States District Court Judge William L. Osteen, Jr., to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release for a firearm offense announced United States Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin of the Middle District of North Carolina.
Shammohd Jameil Ballah, 22, was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded guilty to the charge on June 3, 2020.
On November 4, 2019, the Winston-Salem Police Department was investigating a report of a drive-by shooting at a home on Bethabara Road and found shell casings scattered on the ground in front of the house and holes on the outside of the house.
Based on witness interviews, Ballah was named as a suspect. According to authorities, he was on state probation at the time and court-ordered GPS monitoring location data placed him in the area of the shooting.
Officers tracked Ballah to his apartment complex the following day and found him outside in a vehicle that had a Cugir pistol, model Micro Draco, 7.62x39mm caliber. Officers said Ballah was previously convicted of possession of a stolen firearm on January 17, 2016, and was sentenced to 6- 17 months.
“We will continue to support our federal and local law enforcement partners and aggressively prosecute gun crime,” said U.S. Attorney Matt Martin. “Every neighborhood should be safe from gun violence.”