FirstAlerts

Lonnie Washington Sentenced to 70 Months for Federal Firearm Possession

A Fruit Town Brims gang member was sentenced to federal prison in a developing case stemming from a 2022 fugitive arrest.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 15, 2026, 1:27 p.m. ET
Developing

This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

More on this incident

According to official court records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida released on August 14, 2026, 25-year-old Lonnie Washington of Gainesville has been to 70 months—five years and 10 months—in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. U.S. District Judge John L. Badalamenti imposed the sentence following Washington's guilty plea on April 28, 2026, in a case that remains open and developing. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentencing. Official documents show that in May 2022, Washington was a fugitive after using a vehicle to strike an occupied police car in Gainesville a month earlier and fleeing on foot. Investigators located Washington, a known member of the Fruit Town Brims gang, hiding at the Poinciana home of gang leader Micheal Hankerson. The FBI learned that while fleeing law enforcement, Washington posted on social media, "I’m finna go on a killing run." On May 10, 2022, a U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, working with the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, entered the residence after Washington refused calls to voluntarily surrender. During a search of the residence, law enforcement officers recovered a CZ Scorpion Evo 3 semi-automatic firearm, a loaded 50-round drum magazine, additional firearms, and another magazine loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition. A search warrant for Washington's cellphone uncovered a video recorded one week prior to his arrest showing him holding the CZ Scorpion Evo 3 firearm. Washington's prior felony convictions include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Hankerson was also convicted in 2022 of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and to six years in federal prison.

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Revision history

  1. Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:42current

    First published.

  2. Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:27current

    First published.

  3. Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:48current

    First published.

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