INDIANAPOLIS – A Beech Grove man who attempted get away from police—and ditched a stolen car containing a gun he wasn’t allowed to have—learned his punishment.

A judge sentenced John E. Lamond II, 38, to 63 months (more than 5 years) in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm.

The sentence stems from a September 2020 incident in which Lamond, after spotting an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department car, put his car in reverse to avoid police and drove backwards “recklessly” for about two blocks.

When police subsequently attempted to initiate a traffic stop, Lamond left the vehicle and went to a nearby home. Officers eventually arrested him.

During a search of the vehicle, police found a handgun sitting between the driver’s and passenger’s seats.

Lamond was prohibited by law from possessing a firearm due to previous felony convictions for criminal confinement, carrying a handgun without a license, receiving stolen auto parts, criminal recklessness, strangulation and possession of methamphetamine.

Police also determined the car Lamond was driving had been stolen.

IMPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case. Upon his release, Lamond will serve 2 years of federally supervised probation.