HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) – 33-year-old Immanuel Bradley of Kalamazoo has been sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) in a federal prison, after being convicted on charges of possession of stolen mail and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Bradley, sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo to 78 months behind bars, got more time because he’s considered a repeat offender and danger to the public, according to U.S. Attorney officials out of Grand Rapids.
Kalamazoo police responding to the report of a stolen car in October, 2018, found Bradley with a backpack full of stolen mail, including checkbooks and other financial instruments.
With a warrant in hand, police then searched Bradley’s home, finding more stolen mail, some of which included checks, driver’s licenses, passports, social security cards and credit cards. Police also discovered a loaded .223 caliber magazine for an AR-15-style semiautomatic assault rifle.
Police next found Bradley while investigating a shoplifting complaint at a D&W grocery store near Kalamazoo’s Oakland/Winchell neighborhood. Investigators found he’d hidden a loaded Smith & Wesson, .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol in a display basket by the checkout aisles. He fought with officers when they attempted to handcuff him, escaping with police in hot pursuit.
During that incident, Bradley forced his way into a woman’s home; she fled and called police. Bradley was arrested after a standoff with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety’s SWAT team.
Police learned the pistol recovered at the store had been stolen from a Portage residence in January 2019
At sentencing, Bradley denied the pistol was stolen, claiming he bought it from the registered owner. But the owner and her fiancé refuted his claim in sworn testimony, and Judge Maloney denied Bradley credit for acceptance of responsibility.
Judge Maloney Bradley noted Bradley’s long criminal history, which includes multiple breaking-and-entering and home invasion convictions, as well as parole violations.
Investigators for this case included U.S. Postal Inspection Service officers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety detectives.
