Man Sentenced to 5 Years Following Trial Conviction of Possessing Firearm With Schedule I/II Drugs
NORFOLK, Va. — Marvin Eli Bazemore Jr., 27, was sentenced on Friday, March 21, to serve five years in prison after a judge found him guilty of possessing Schedule I/II drugs with the intent to distribute them as well as possessing those drugs with a firearm on his person in 2022.
On Oct. 5, 2022, two Norfolk Police patrol officers recognized Mr. Bazemore as he was exiting his car and walking toward apartments on Corprew Avenue. The officers called out to Mr. Bazemore to speak to him, but Mr. Bazemore ignored the officers and kept walking. Meanwhile, the officers saw in plain view inside Mr. Bazemore’s car several bags of marijuana, a digital scale, dollar bills, and what appeared to be a firearm with a silver barrel partially concealed under the driver’s seat. While the officers were standing near and looking into the car, Mr. Bazemore locked it remotely. The officers had Mr. Bazemore’s car towed for the purpose of obtaining a search warrant, and they recovered the firearm from under the driver’s seat, found a bag of crack cocaine and another digital scale in the center console, and found more crack cocaine in a paper bag inside the trunk. Subsequent forensic testing showed that Mr. Bazemore was in possession of more than an ounce of cocaine, which is a Schedule II controlled substance. Paperwork with Mr. Bazemore’s identifying information was also inside the vehicle.
Based on their investigation, police secured charges against Mr. Bazemore for possessing Schedule I/II drugs with the intent to distribute them, possessing those drugs with a firearm on his person, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. On Aug. 12, 2024, Mr. Bazemore pleaded not guilty to those charges and requested to be tried by a judge. After hearing the evidence, Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. found Mr. Bazemore guilty of the two drug-related charges and not guilty of possessing a concealed firearm.
On Friday, after hearing arguments from the Commonwealth and the defense, Judge Martin sentenced Mr. Bazemore to serve five years in prison and suspended another two years on the conditions that Mr. Bazemore complete 10 years of uniform good behavior and complete an indeterminate period of supervised probation following his release. The judge also fined Mr. Bazemore $50,000.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Caswell W. Richardson prosecuted Mr. Bazemore’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Officers Alexander W. Bender and Darren M. Labat led the investigation.
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