INDIANAPOLIS — A repeat domestic abuser has been sentenced to serve over 15 years in prison after police found a bloody handgun he had used to beat his girlfriend hidden in a microwave.
Harold Sanders, 34, of Indianapolis was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm. Sanders had previously been convicted of domestic battery and was prohibited from owning a firearm.
According to court documents, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to a home after Sander’s girlfriend called 911 screaming for help and saying Sanders was assaulting her. During the 911 call, Sanders could reportedly be overheard asking where his other pistol was along with making verbal threats.
Officers reported his girlfriend had visible injuries and told police Sanders had struck her in the head seven times with a firearm. Police searched the home and found a loaded .380 caliber handgun under a bedroom mattress. A loaded 9mm handgun was found in the microwave with his girlfriend’s blood on the firearm.
“Again and again, we see armed domestic abusers inflict injury and death on those closest to them,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers. “We must interrupt the cycle of violence through aggressive federal prosecution of the worst offenders, like the defendant here.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and IMPD investigated the case.
As part of his sentencing, Sanders was ordered to serve five years on probation after his release from federal prison.