PENSACOLA — A 42-year-old convicted felon has been indicted in federal court on charges of possessing a firearm and ammunition and possessing a controlled substance, U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida announced.
EP Hall appeared for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zachary C. Bolitho in Pensacola. Hall faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment if convicted of the firearm charge and up to three years’ imprisonment if convicted of the drug possession count.
The case is being jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia H. Forbes is prosecuting the case.
Federal prosecutors tied the indictment to Operation Take Back America, which the Department of Justice described as “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.” The designation signals the federal government’s broader push to use its enforcement apparatus against violent crime and firearms offenses in communities across Florida’s Panhandle.
“An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. “All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
Hall’s jury trial is scheduled for July 20 in Pensacola before U.S. District Court Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.