A Mobile man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
According to court documents, Derrick C. Busby, 34, was arrested by Mobile Police Department officers following a traffic stop on October 22, 2023.
During the stop, officers saw marijuana on Busby’s lap and witnessed Busby chugging from a bottle of prescription-only promethazine syrup and swallowing marijuana.
Officers searched Busby’s car, seizing, among other things, a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol, a loaded extended magazine, and a digital scale. The pistol had previously been reported stolen to the Daphne Police Department by its original owner in December 2022.
Busby admitted to police that he possessed the pistol, which he heard was stolen and might have been connected to a homicide. Busby further admitted that he was a convicted felon who was not supposed to be around guns.
At the time Busby possessed the pistol, he had prior felony convictions for robbery and burglary. Those felony convictions made Busby’s possession of the pistol illegal under federal law.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Mobile Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Roller prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
