Run, Toss, Caught: Maryland Felon Sentenced After Sprint And Tossed Gun In D.C. Lot

WASHINGTON — A man residing in District Heights, Maryland, with a prior federal armed robbery conviction has been sentenced to more than four years in prison after a jury found he illegally possessed a loaded handgun in Southeast Washington, federal prosecutors said.

Anthony Eugene Burns, 32, was sentenced Nov. 24, 2025, in U.S. District Court to 55 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. A federal jury convicted him Sept. 10 of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

According to evidence presented at trial, on Feb. 25, 2024, Metropolitan Police Department officers were on patrol in Southeast when they responded to a report of a disorderly group at an apartment building in the 2700 block of Wade Road SE. As officers approached, they saw Burns quickly turn and sprint away.

While Burns ran, officers saw him make an overhead throwing motion, appearing to toss a dark-colored object over a fence into a large vacant lot. He continued through an alley between Eaton Road SE and Sumner Road SE, where officers briefly lost sight of him before finding him hiding in the 1200 block of Sumner Road SE.

Officers returned to the area where they had seen the throwing motion and recovered a black Glock 27 pistol from the lot. The handgun was loaded with an extended magazine containing 21 rounds and one round in the chamber.

Burns was barred from possessing a gun because of a prior federal conviction stemming from a 2015 armed robbery spree targeting commercial businesses in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. In that case, he pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery, multiple counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery, and using, carrying, brandishing and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and remained under federal supervision at the time of the 2024 gun offense.

Three co-defendants also pleaded guilty and were sentenced on federal charges related to the earlier robberies, which included holdups at a shoe store on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and two 7-Eleven convenience stores.

The current case was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory V. Cole and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Reeder-Ricchetti, with assistance from paralegal specialist Tiffany Robinson.

---