Previously convicted Nigerian felon pleads guilty to illegal possession of Glock 19 pistol with 17-round magazine in US

A 27-year-old Nigerian man, Samuel Fapohunda, has been convicted in a United States federal court for illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.

The United States District Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro disclosed this in a press statement issued by the Department of Justice on Thursday, July 30, 2026.

According to the statement, the previously convicted felon residing in Maryland, pleaded guilty on Thursday in U.S. District Court in connection with his illegal possession of a Glock 19 pistol with a 17-round magazine. 

Fapohunda pleaded guilty before Judge Trevor N. McFadden to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. 

McFadden scheduled sentencing for December 3, 2026. 

According to court documents, on June 25, 2026, at 6:45 p.m., officers on patrol in the 1800 block of 18th Street SE found a vehicle parked with its engine running and an illegally-tinted window. 

An officer approached the car and the driver rolled down his window when officers smelled marijuana. 

The driver, identified as Fapohunda, admitted he had been smoking. 

Officers ordered the occupants out of the car. As the passenger stepped out, officers saw a burnt marijuana cigarette in her hand. 

A federal law enforcement officer conducted a protective pat-down of Fapohunda and felt a firearm in his waistband. 

Before officers recovered it, Fapohunda blurted out, “it’s under my shorts,” repeating the phrase three times. 

Officers recovered a loaded Glock 19 9mm handgun with a 17-round magazine. 

A search of the vehicle turned up marijuana, a nearly full bottle of codeine-based cough syrup, drug paraphernalia including a scale and baggies with residue, and $985 in cash. 

A criminal history check showed Fapohunda was previously convicted of robbery in Arlington County, Virginia, and sentenced to five years incarceration, with four years suspended, making his possession of the firearm and ammunition illegal under federal law. 

Also in 2018, Fapohunda was arrested in Washington, D.C., after he punch a passenger and slammed his head against a glass window on a Vienna-bound Orange Line train.

Passengers on the train reported seeing Fapohunda, then 19, approach the “older” male passenger unprovoked, before allegedly attacking the rider. 

The investigation was conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Washington Field Office. 

The matter was prosecuted under the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful initiative by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Liss.