Roanoke man pleads guilty to drug, gun charges in federal court

ROANOKE, Va. – Police are using the case of a Roanoke man to show how they're cracking down on lawbreakers.

We first told you about Michael David Jr.'s arrest last year in connection with a deadly shooting in northwest Roanoke.

The second-degree murder charge was later dismissed and now David is pleading guilty to two felonies related to gun and drug charges.

10 News reporter Irisha Jones was inside the courtroom Monday afternoon when the 20-year-old entered a guilty plea in his case from 2016. 

David was arrested during a traffic stop in July 2016 for an expired registration. Police said that he ran from them and that when he was caught, they found crack cocaine, a loaded gun and extra ammunition in his car.

The Roanoke Attorney General's Office announced these factors made the case a federal prosecution.

The office also said the case is part of the implementation, by the U.S. attorney's office, of the Project Safe Neighborhood Program in Roanoke.

"The project is designed to combat gangs and gun violence. The rate of homicides and other violent crimes in Roanoke and in other cities in our district is simply unacceptable," said Laura Rottenborn, the Project Safe Neighborhood coordinator in Roanoke. "And we will not stand complacent in the face of such violence. We will use all means to swiftly and aggressively prosecute and remove from the streets violent offenders."

The program is a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, which plans to do community outreach to get help from people in the area who may have information about people committing violent crimes.