A man from Springfield, who admitted to being a felon with a firearm, was sentenced in court.

Federal prosecutors say Alexander Coleman got 16 years in prison without parole.

Springfield police officers found a loaded KAHR Arms 9mm pistol in Coleman’s coat pocket when they searched him during a traffic stop.

Coleman was a passenger in the vehicle in which other individuals were in possession of illegal drugs, a scale, and drug paraphernalia.

Court papers say Coleman was a former known member of the Grape Street Crips gang with a lengthy criminal history.

(Information provided by the Office of the U.S. Attorney Western District of Missouri)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

Alexander Monday Coleman, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 16 years in federal prison without parole. Coleman was sentenced as an armed career offender due to his prior felony convictions.

According to court documents, Coleman was a former known member of the Grape Street Crips gang with a lengthy criminal history.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Coleman has prior felony convictions for assault (as well as multiple misdemeanor convictions for assault), possession of a controlled substance, possession of cocaine for resale, theft of property, unlawful possession of a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and delivery or manufacture of an imitation controlled substance. Coleman was on parole at the time of this federal offense.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

(photo provided by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office)