Lorain man found guilty of federal weapons, drug charges after four-day trial

A Lorain man has been found guilty of federal gun and drug charges following a trial in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Brandon Chambers, 41, of Victory Avenue, was found guilty of one count of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko said in a news release. Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. presided over the four-day trial. Chambers represented himself in court with a licensed attorney on standby to assist him, according to court records. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 7, and Chambers faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. Shortly before 10 p.m. Oct. 28, 2021, an Avon police officer stopped Chambers' tan Ford on the exit ramp from Interstate 90 to Colorado Avenue for going 95 mph in a 65 mph zone on I-90. Chambers' car also had dark window tint and no visible license plates. Chambers sped away from the traffic stop, then stopped in the parking lot of the McDonald's on Colorado Avenue near Chester Road. He put his hands and cellphone out the window but refused to get out until a supervisor arrived at the scene, and claimed he was a "sovereign citizen" — a fringe element of Americans who believe they are exempt from U.S. law and don't recognize the jurisdiction of the government. A sergeant arrived and persuaded Chambers to get out of the car. Handcuffed, Chambers claimed his license plate "must have fallen off in the rain," according to federal court records. Avon police found a disassembled Glock 23 handgun in the car, along with a large plastic baggie that testing showed contained nearly 219 grams of methamphetamine, according to federal court records. The DEA assisted Avon police in the investigation, federal prosecutors said. A convicted felon, Chambers is forbidden from owning or possessing firearms. Chambers has a lengthy criminal history and past felony convictions for assault, weapons charges, harassment by an inmate and failure to comply in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, according to court records. He also is a registered sex offender, convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in New York state in 2002, according to Ohio's public sex offender registry.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.