FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2018
COVINGTON—District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that Michael Richardson, 34, of Covington, pleaded guilty Monday (May 14) to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, possession of marijuana (third offense), and resisting an officer during an incident last year. District Judge Martin Coady sentenced Richardson to 20 years in prison without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
The charges stem from an incident on Dec. 11, 2017, when St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies stopped Richardson for a license plate violation, noticed smoke, and smelled marijuana coming from the car. The officer asked if there was anything illegal inside the vehicle, and Richardson handed the officers a blunt.
Richardson then fled on foot, hopped a 6-foot fence, and hid in a neighboring house that did not belong to him. The deputies eventually found Richardson inside the home, where he was hiding in the closet of a child’s bedroom. The deputies also recovered a handgun that Richardson had hidden in a clothes hamper in the room. The handgun was later determined to have been stolen about a month and a half earlier in an automobile burglary.
Assistant District Attorney Holly McGinness prosecuted the case.