Man Sentenced to 2 ½ Years for Being Felon in Possession of Stolen Firearm, Robbing Friend of Another Firearm the Following Day
NORFOLK, Va. — Zaquan Lamont Godfrey-Cuffee, 21, was sentenced on Friday to two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty last year to carrying a concealed weapon, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and robbing a friend of his firearm.
On May 17, a Norfolk Police officer saw Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee walking on East 26th Street openly carrying a Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic firearm on his waistband before entering a store. The officer entered the store behind Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee and noticed Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee had concealed the firearm by moving it from his waistband to inside his pants pocket, where only an L-shaped bulge could be seen. The officer asked whether Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee owned a concealed weapons permit, Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee said he did not and that he found the firearm outside of a nearby apartment complex, and the officer confiscated the firearm. Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee has a history of juvenile delinquency adjudications in Norfolk and is prohibited from possessing a firearm, and the officer secured charges against Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee for carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The following day, on May 18, a friend of Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee arrived at Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee’s home to give him a ride. When Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee got in the friend’s car, he noticed and picked up his friend’s Taurus G3 semi-automatic firearm. Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee then pulled back the slide of the firearm to load a cartridge in the chamber, told his friend that he would be taking his gun, threatened to shoot his friend with it if his friend would not let him have it, and left the vehicle to go back inside his home. The friend reported the robbery to Norfolk Police the following day after failed attempts to contact Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee and his family to get the firearm back. Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee was arrested the following week and charged again with being a felon in possession of a firearm and robbery by force.
On Nov. 8, Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee pleaded guilty as charged for both offenses, and Judge Charles E. Poston found him guilty. On Friday, Judge David W. Lannetti sentenced Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee to two years and six months in prison, with another five years suspended on the condition that Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee complete three years of uniform good behavior and a period of indefinite supervised probation.
“Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee committed crimes in the past that prohibit him from even touching a gun, let alone having one,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Now Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee has robbed and threatened to shoot others, and he will rightly serve a prison sentence for his dangerous conduct. We will continue to prosecute the individuals who possess guns illegally and pose a risk to the community.”
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gordon C. Ufkes prosecuted Mr. Godfrey-Cuffee’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Officer Curtis L. Anderson and Detective Andrew J. Jowdy led the investigations.
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