Rome Man Sentenced in Connection with Drive-by Shooting in Syracuse

A Rome man has been sentenced to 115 months in prison for possession of ammunition as a convicted felon in connection with an August 2012 drive-by shooting in Syracuse.

32-year old Alfred Thomas was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says after being acquitted on an unrelated September 2014 murder in Syracuse, Thomas admitted on Facebook that he had actually committed the murder and repeated those admissions to federal agents.

The judge noted Thomas' long criminal record of offenses involving the use of violence, including his admissions about the murder, in handing down Thomas' lengthy sentence.

“The lengthy sentence reflects Thomas’s long record of violent crime including his admissions that he had killed someone after being acquitted in a state homicide prosecution.   This successful prosecution is the result of outstanding collaboration and dogged persistence to bring him to justice by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick, FBI, ATF, and Syracuse Police with assistance from the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office,” said United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian.