Richmond man sentenced for illegally possessing firearm during traffic stop

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond man was sentenced to two years and six months for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On Wednesday, March 27, John Edward Mason III, 36, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison after officers with the Richmond Police Department found a loaded gun under his seat during a protective sweep of a car during a traffic stop.

According to court documents, Richmond Police officers stopped a car for speeding and running a stop sign on Sept. 3, 2022. During the stop, an officer saw an open liquor bottle in the backseat and asked the driver to step out of the car. As the driver got out of the car, she told the officer she was sitting on a firearm.

The officers then asked Mason, who was in the passenger seat, to get out of the car. During the protective sweep of the car, the officers found a loaded 9mm handgun under Mason’s seat, according to court documents.

According to the Department of Justice, in 2009, Mason was convicted of a hit-and-run resulting in a personal injury after driving into a man with his car. Mason was also convicted of malicious wounding after hitting a man in the face with a brick in 2011.

As a previously convicted felon, Mason cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition. According to the department, Mason’s release from supervised probation was less than six months from the date officers found him in possession of a firearm.

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