PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Woonsocket man was sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve four years at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) after pleading to an illegal firearm charge.
Tahkell Holland (age 24) pleaded nolo contendere to one count of carrying pistol without a license.
At a hearing on May 25, before Superior Court Justice Linda Rekas Sloan, the court sentenced Holland to 10 years at the ACI with four years to serve and the balance of the sentence suspended with probation.
"Illegal firearms and large capacity magazines have proven to be a dangerous – and far too often deadly – combination," said Attorney General Neronha. "While illegal firearms have always been the target of law enforcement efforts, large capacity magazines, like the one possessed by the defendant here, are legal in our state. They render illegal firearms even more dangerous, as they give criminals the ability to fire even more bullets at their targets – putting lives, including innocent lives, in even greater danger. I am grateful to the Woonsocket Police Department for their partnership with my office and their continued efforts to reduce violence in their city."
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that just after midnight on August 8, 2020, Holland discarded a loaded handgun while being pursued by Woonsocket police officers during a brief foot chase.
Prior to his arrest, officers observed Holland drinking from a bottle of liquor in a parking lot on Morin Heights Boulevard. As officers approached Holland, he ran into a nearby wooded area.
Officers pursued Holland and during the foot chase, he discarded a loaded Glock 23 .40 S&W pistol and a large capacity magazine. Officers apprehended Holland shortly thereafter.
"This proactive police work resulted in the arrest of a dangerous armed individual and the removal of an illegal firearm within the city of Woonsocket," said Woonsocket Police Chief Thomas F. Oates III. "The members of the Woonsocket Police Department will continue to locate and seize illegal firearms and apprehend those in possession of them, in the hopes of preventing crimes involving gun violence."
Special Assistant Attorney General Edward G. Mullaney of the Office of the Attorney General and Officer Robert Frye of the Woonsocket Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of the case.
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