Pawtucket man sentenced to serve 9 years in state prison for illegal gun possession
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced today that a Providence man has been sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve nine years at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) after pleading to illegally possessing several handguns in 2020.
On May 11, 2023, Davon McMahon (age 28) entered a plea of nolo contendere to one count of possession of a firearm after a conviction for a crime of violence.
At the hearing, Superior Court Justice Kristin E. Rodgers sentenced the defendant to serve nine years at the ACI. The Court also declared the defendant a habitual offender and imposed a consecutive 10-year nonparolable suspended sentence with probation.
Prior to his sentencing, the Court found that the defendant violated the terms and conditions of his probation stemming from a 2014 conviction for possession of a pistol without a permit. At that hearing in February 2022, during which the Court heard from six witnesses, the Court also denied the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of the handguns.
Had the case proceeded to a trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that in the morning of October 29, 2020, the defendant was arrested by members of the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force while in possession of two 9-millimeter semi-automatic handguns at a residence on Indiana Avenue in Providence.
On that day, members of the task force sought to apprehend the defendant, who was wanted by law enforcement on an outstanding arrest warrant. Investigators determined the defendant was within an apartment on Indiana Avenue.
During the execution of the warrant, members of the task force arrested the defendant in the first-floor apartment. During a protective sweep of the residence, investigators seized a Diamondback DB9 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun and a Kahr MK9 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun.
Investigators submitted DNA obtained from the trigger and grip of both handguns to the Rhode Island Department of Health Forensic Biology Unit for DNA comparison and analysis. The Forensic Biology Unit confirmed that the defendant’s DNA was found on both handguns.
Under Rhode Island law, individuals convicted of crimes of violence are prohibited from possessing firearms. The defendant was previously convicted of felony assault in 2015.
Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force investigators John Cardone of the Cranston Police Department and Lee Trott of the Portsmouth Police Department, and Special Assistant Attorneys General Edward G. Mullaney and Gregory Moore of the Office of the Attorney General led the investigation and prosecution of the case.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday on Donald Trump's claim he has absolute immunity on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The outcome could determine whether Trump faces a federal trial this year on four felony counts brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding. Trump's legal team argues the former president should have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for any official acts taken while in office. 
