After Two Trials and Gun Convictions in Less Than Two Weeks, Philadelphia Man Sentenced to 12½ Years in Prison

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Arthur Thompson, 40, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 150 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release by United States District Judge Karen Spencer Marston for illegally possessing guns and ammunition as a felon.

At back-to-back trials earlier this year, two federal juries convicted the defendant of separate firearms offenses.

On March 31, 2026, Thompson was convicted of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon.

As detailed in court filings and proven at trial, on December 20, 2022, two Philadelphia police officers saw the defendant commit a traffic violation and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Thompson stopped his car, got out, tossed a loaded firearm, and ran away from the officers. After a brief foot chase, the defendant was detained and later charged locally with firearms violations.

Thompson was federally indicted in January 2025 and then charged by superseding indictment in December. He had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and was not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition.

On April 10, 2026, Thompson was convicted once again of possession of a firearm by a felon.

As detailed in court filings and proven at trial, on October 18, 2023, investigators with the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General's Gun Violence Task Force ("GVTF") carried out an operation to locate Thompson, who was the subject of an active arrest warrant. Investigators conducting surveillance on the 3000 block of North Percy Street in Philadelphia saw two people, who they believed were the defendant and his girlfriend, in a parked car, which drove away from that location a few hours later.

GVTF members maintained constant visual surveillance of the vehicle, which subsequently pulled over to drop off the female passenger. After the male drove off, investigators relayed its location and path of travel to Philadelphia Police Department ("PPD") Highway Patrol officers, who initiated a vehicle stop. After the male driver was removed from the vehicle and positively identified as Arthur Thompson, the PPD officers arrested him on the active warrant.

GVTF investigators obtained and executed a search warrant on the vehicle, recovering a loaded 9mm handgun.

These cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Gun Violence Task Force, and the Philadelphia Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert E. Eckert and Samantha A. Arena and Special Assistant United States Attorney Tracie J. Gaydos.