‘Serial offender’ gets long prison sentence for gun possession

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A Muskegon man was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Dareese Devon Hewlett, 41, was sentenced Tuesday, Nov. 21, by U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering in Grand Rapids to 15 years, eight months in prison.

“Mr. Hewlett is a serial offender who had demonstrated blatant disrespect for the law,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement.

Police began investigating Hewlett on May 22, 2022, after he was reported to have shot at two others at a Muskegon park. Investigators determined 10 shots were fired.

Police searched his home and recovered two other pistols, ammunition and $32,251, court records said.

Later, in a search of Hewlett’s hotel room, police recovered four loaded handguns, a 25-round magazine and a “switch,” a device to turn a semiautomatic into a machine gun, federal prosecutors said.

Police recovered a loaded pistol and bullet-proof vest at his home after controlled buys of fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Hewlett was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act because of three serious drug offenses since 2010.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Metoxen wrote in court documents that Hewlett, “a 14-time felon, was repeatedly caught with guns – a gun he shot at someone with, a gun with a machinegun switch, a gun he had when caught with fentanyl. He has been undeterred by prior criminal sanctions and continues to pose a substantial risk to the public.”

Muskegon police Chief Timothy Kozal said local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies have together “to reduce violent crime, particularly gun crimes.”

Several people wrote letters on Hewlett’s behalf and said he was a loving father, husband, son and brother, and has shown “tremendous remorse for his actions,” court records showed.

Muskegon police, Muskegon Heights police, state police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

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