A Charlotte man, Michael Anthony Cornwell, 30, was sentenced to 106 months in prison and two years of supervised release for firearms offenses. The announcement was made by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Alicia Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) joined in the announcement.
According to court records and proceedings, Cornwell was arrested on September 13, 2022, by CMPD officers who were acting on an outstanding warrant. During a search at his residence, law enforcement seized multiple rounds of ammunition, a .40 caliber drum magazine, several rifle magazines, a gun sight, digital scales, and a distribution quantity of marijuana. Officers also found a loaded .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol in Cornwell’s vehicle. As a convicted felon with prior felony convictions, Cornwell is barred from possessing firearms or ammunition.
Cornwell pleaded guilty on January 10, 2025 to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. He remains in federal custody and will be transferred to the Bureau of Prisons after being assigned to a facility.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson expressed gratitude to the ATF and CMPD for their work investigating the case.
The prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America. The initiative uses resources from across the Department of Justice—including Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN)—to address illegal immigration issues as well as combat cartels and transnational criminal organizations while working to reduce violent crime nationwide.
