Hopewell man sentenced to over five years for possessing gun, ammunition as felon

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Hopewell man was sentenced to five years and five months in prison on Wednesday for possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon.

According to court documents, on Nov. 19, 2022, officers from the Hopewell Police Department found 27-year-old Azontay Malik Perry passed out in the drivers seat of a BMW with the car still running at the intersection of Ashland Street and Oaklawn Boulevard.

Officers woke Perry up and told him to step out of the car, but he ignored the command and drove into the back of a parked police car. Perry tried to leave the scene at a high speed and crashed into an apartment complex’s dumpster, he then got out of the car and ran away from the scene.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), officers identified a .40 caliber gun on the floor of the car. The gun included an extended magazine with 27 rounds of ammunition.

Eventually, officers acquired a search warrant for the car and found 18 grams of methamphetamine and 10.84 grams of fentanyl.

Back in 2016, Perry was convicted for the possession of schedule I or II drugs after he was caught with narcotics in his car during a traffic stop. According to DOJ, later that year, he was convicted again of possession of schedule I or II drugs, possession of a concealed weapon, possession of a firearm while in possession of schedule I or II drugs and monument damage.

In 2019, Perry was convicted of possession of schedule I or II drugs again, along with driving with a suspended license.

Last year, he was convicted for violating his probation in connection to his multiple convictions in 2016 and not turning himself in on his outstanding warrants and running away from supervised probation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.