St Louis, Missouri – On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John A. Ross sentenced 31-year-old Marquis Melton to 10 years in prison for threatening a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in St. Louis, Missouri, over a missing package containing marijuana. Melton pleaded guilty in January to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Incident Details
On February 27, 2023, Melton confronted a mail carrier in the 4700 block of Farlin Avenue, demanding a package he was expecting. When the carrier informed him that he did not have the package, Melton followed the carrier back to the Post Office, attempting to locate the package there.
The following day, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers stopped the vehicle in which Melton had been riding. During the stop, officers discovered a .40-caliber pistol. As a convicted felon, Melton is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm and was also wanted by police on other matters.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
During the court proceedings, Melton denied threatening the carrier with a firearm and claimed that there was no evidence linking the gun he allegedly had during the incident to the one found by police the next day.
However, based on testimony and evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Judge Ross concluded that Melton did possess the gun and did threaten the mail carrier. The evidence indicated that Melton was impatient about the shipment of marijuana he was expecting.
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Investigation and Prosecution
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane prosecuted the case.
Part of Project Safe Neighborhoods
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that unites law enforcement and community organizations to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make neighborhoods safer. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
