Man Sentenced to More Than 1 Year After Pleading Guilty to Being Felon in Possession of Firearm with Obliterated Serial Number

NORFOLK, Va. — Solomon Jah Mosely, 20, was sentenced in September to serve one year and eight months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm which had an obliterated serial number. Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi had advocated for the law passed in 2024 that made it a crime to possess or sell guns with obliterated serial numbers.

On Jan. 19, Norfolk Police officers saw a van with an expired registration being driven by Mr. Mosely in the 2600 block of Tidewater Drive. At the intersection of Lindenwood Avenue, the officers attempted to pull Mr. Mosely over, but he refused to stop driving until he struck a one-way sign at the intersection of Sutton and Fremont streets. Mr. Mosely got out of the van and ran from the officers through several backyards and residential streets before the officers were able to catch him.

The following day, while he was in the custody of the Norfolk City Jail, Mr. Mosely made a phone call in which he informed another individual that he had been involved in a police pursuit and that he had hidden a gun during the subsequent foot chase. Mr. Mosley gave that person instructions on where to find the gun. Norfolk Police had been monitoring Mr. Mosley’s call, were able to locate the firearm, and determined that it had been reported stolen out of Chesapeake on Jan. 17. The serial number on the barrel of the firearm had been defaced and was illegible. Mr. Mosely has a prior juvenile felony adjudication and is prohibited from possessing firearms.

On Sept. 5, Mr. Mosely entered an agreement to plead guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm as well as possessing of a firearm with a removed serial number (a misdemeanor) and to serve one years and eight months in prison with another four years and four months suspended on the conditions that he completes two years of supervised probation and three years of uniform good behavior after his release. Mr. Mosely’s sentence was within his state sentencing guidelines. In exchange for his guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to the dismissal of additional misdemeanor charges from this incident. Judge Joseph C. Lindsey accepted Mr. Mosely’s plea agreement and sentenced him according to its terms.

“Until July 1, 2024, it was totally legal under Virginia law to possess a gun with an obliterated serial number. That loophole in Virginia law was crazy and allowed wrongdoers to possess or even sell illegal crime guns with no recourse for police or prosecutors,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “That is why Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and I successfully advocated in the General Assembly for a change to Virginia law to allow for the prosecution of this serious offense. I express my appreciation to the Norfolk Police for apprehending Mr. Mosley and for going the extra mile to discover the existence of this gun and to get it off the street. We will continue to focus our efforts on the suppression of violence, and I will continue to advocate for sensible changes to the law to allow for a safer Norfolk and Virginia.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony J. Balady prosecuted Mr. Mosely’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Kellie L. Smoot led the investigation.

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