Feds charge man second time on firearm charges

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A man who had finished serving a federal prison sentence earlier this year for being a felon in possession of a firearm is facing the same charge again.

A criminal complaint was filed Wednesday in U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio against 24-year-old Michael Rodriguez of North Lakeview Avenue.

The complaint said Rodriguez was in a car on East Philadelphia Avenue on July 17 that ran a stop sign. When police pulled it over, they asked the driver if they could search the car.

When the driver gave his permission and officers asked Rodriguez to step out of the car, he ran away, the complaint said, and as he did, he threw a dark object on the ground that later was found to be a loaded .38-caliber revolver.

Rodriguez has a felony burglary conviction from 2009 from Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, which prohibits him from owning a gun, and in February 2012 he was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He also was indicted in common pleas court for the July foot pursuit on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and obstructing official business.

Rodriguez is expected to be arraigned today before Magistrate Judge George Limbert.