Lamaas Lowery-Bey, a 28-year-old resident of the District of Columbia, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. The sentence was handed down by Judge Dabney L. Friedrich in U.S. District Court after Lowery-Bey pleaded guilty on April 18, 2025. In addition to the prison term, he will serve three years of supervised release.
The announcement was made by U.S Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, with FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis of the Washington Field Office Criminal Division and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department joining in the statement.
According to court documents, law enforcement had focused efforts on the Fairlawn neighborhood near 19th Street SE and Minnesota Ave SE following five homicides that occurred there in 2023. On September 14, 2023, officers observed Lowery-Bey handling a black semi-automatic handgun with what appeared to be an extended magazine on the 1900 block of 18th Street SE.
A search warrant was executed at his residence on October 4, 2023. Officers recovered a .40 caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine hidden behind a canvas painting above his bathroom toilet. As police removed the painting, the loaded firearm fell onto the toilet tank. The gun contained 29 rounds and was equipped with a device known as a “switch,” which could have allowed it to function like a machine gun if operable. The weapon had previously been reported stolen.
Lowery-Bey has remained in custody since his arrest in November 2024.
Before this case, Lowery-Bey was detained in June 2023 for unlawful possession of another firearm—a loaded Taurus Millenium handgun—though those charges were dismissed by D.C. Superior Court.
He has prior convictions related to firearms and domestic violence incidents dating back to August 6, 2019, when he threatened individuals with a gun and later barricaded himself from police for several hours before surrendering.
The investigation involved both the Metropolitan Police Department and FBI Washington Field Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Iris McCranie.
