MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) – A 21-year-old Wisconsin man was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin, Curtis White III of Sun Prairie previously pleaded guilty to the firearm charge in February.
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On Sept. 30, 2024, police in Fitchburg received a call reporting that White was armed. Officers responded to the caller’s apartment complex and searched the area, eventually locating White a few blocks away.
After his arrest, White admitted to possessing a firearm near the caller’s apartment and told officers his fingerprints would be on the weapon. He claimed he had wrapped the gun in a sweatshirt and tossed it near Williamsburg Way and Whitney Way.
However, on Oct. 1, 2024, officers reviewed White’s jail phone calls and heard him giving directions to someone on where to find the firearm. Based on that information, authorities found a loaded handgun wrapped in a black sweatshirt in a stairwell in the basement of an apartment building.
At the time of the offense, White had eight prior felony convictions in Dane County, including burglary and bail jumping.
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During sentencing, the judge said White was a “very dangerous person” who showed “an unrelenting pattern of criminal behavior.” The judge also noted that White worsened his situation by lying to officers about the firearm’s location and assaulting two inmates while awaiting sentencing.
The judge concluded a four-year prison term was necessary to protect the public from White’s violent and unpredictable behavior.
