U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Wednesday sentenced a man caught with a gun while overdosing on fentanyl to six years in prison.
Derrick Hart pleaded guilty in May to being a felon in possession of a firearm and admitted possessing that gun on March 3, 2020. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers found Hart unconscious on the side of Goodfellow Boulevard with a stolen 9mm pistol and a large-capacity magazine in his waistband. He was revived by EMS and taken to the hospital.
A few hours after his release from the hospital, Hart viciously beat his then-girlfriend in front of her 9-year-old daughter, according to a sentencing memo. Hart became enraged when he thought the victim said another man’s name during a phone call and struck her in the face. The two then struggled over a mop, which broke, and he hit her twice in the face with the jagged metal handle.
Hart’s prior felony convictions include drug charges, robbery, and felonious restraint.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone prosecuted the case.
